The 48th/150th: The East Tennessee Campaign & Fort Sanders: October-November 1863

Overview/Setting The Stage. . . . 

Area of Operations, East Tennessee: 1863 

In early September 1863, Major General Ambrose Burnside conducted a successful campaign in East Tennessee, during which time he secured the important city of Knoxville for the United States. The people of the twenty-two counties of East Tennessee were primarily Unionist in their sympathies and for the first two-and-a-half years of the war had suffered at the hands of Confederates posted in this region—a region Richmond had deemed hostile. Sending soldiers to the relief of these people from East Tennessee had long been on President Lincoln’s mind but it was not until the late summer of 1863 before this finally came to fruition. Burnside was tabbed for this important assignment and after spending much of the summer preparing he, in late August, led his force southward from Kentucky and into the heart of East Tennessee, arriving unopposed in Knoxville on September 3. The people there greeted Burnside and his men as liberators. Burnside proudly reported the occupation of Knoxville to Lincoln and the War Department in Washington, but any elation over his success was overshadowed by a growing concern for General William Rosecrans’s Army of the Cumberland further to the south.

Harpers Weekly Depicts Burnside's Arrival in Knoxville, 9/3/1863

In mid-September, Rosecrans’s army was defeated by Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee at the Battle of Chickamauga, which proved to be the largest Confederate victory in the war’s Western Theatre. Following his defeat, Rosecrans led his army back to Chattanooga, with Bragg’s forces on his heels. Soon, Bragg settled in for a siege. 

Harper's Weekly Depictions of Union Troops at Chickamauga 

In Washington, word of Rosecrans’s defeat prompted calls for Burnside to march his command south, to the relief of the Army of the Cumberland. With some hesitation, Burnside set out with elements of his 23^rd and 9^th Army Corps, leaving behind Captain Orlando Poe—his chief engineer—with instructions to turn Knoxville into a fortress.

Captain Orlando Poe Transformed Knoxville Into A Fortress

Burnside made it halfway to Chattanooga when he received word to stop—other Union troops in the form of the 11^th & 12^th Corps Army of the Potomac and a large, 20,000-man column were also heading to Rosecrans’s relief. Burnside was told to simply stay where he was in East Tennessee, to help protect Rosecrans’s right flank.

By the end of October, the first Union reinforcements arrived at Chattanooga and on October 29 had punched a hole through the Confederate line at the Battle of Wauhatchie, thereby opening a supply line and alleviating the suffering and starving Union soldiers in Chattanooga. Bragg was furious and placed most of the blame for the defeat at Wauhatchie on James Longstreet, who had joined Bragg’s army with two of his divisions from the Army of Northern Virginia. Bragg and Longstreet simply did not get along and, thus, in the aftermath of Wauhatchie, Bragg decided to send Longstreet into East Tennessee to crush Burnside. Many then and now could not help but scratch their heads in wonder as to why Bragg would decide to divide his army in the face of a larger one, and with more and more Union reinforcements heading to Rosecrans’s relief. But for Bragg, sending Longstreet into East Tennessee would, for the moment at least, remove a troublemaking subordinate and, if successful, would also secure control of East Tennessee once more for the Confederacy. Longstreet was told to go north, locate Burnside’s command and crush it, then return to Chattanooga to help Bragg deal with the growing blue-coated force there. It seemed simple enough, but Burnside was not about to let this happen.

Lieutenant General James Longstreet--
Defeated By Burnside in East Tennessee 

Authorities in Washington panicked when they learned that Longstreet’s column was heading north into East Tennessee; even General U.S. Grant advised Burnside to withdraw all the way back to Kentucky if necessary. Burnside, however, sensed an opportunity. He was well-aware of what Bragg and Longstreet were up to and believed he could help the situation in Chattanooga by moving south to initiate contact with Longstreet and then engage in a fighting withdrawal, all the way back to Knoxville, thereby drawing Longstreet’s command further and further away from Bragg and allowing Grant a better chance at victory at Chattanooga. Grant liked the idea and in mid-November 1863, the East Tennessee Campaign commenced.

Major General Ambrose Burnside_
Victor of the East Tennessee Campaign 

In the end, it was a complete success for Burnside and a complete failure for Longstreet, who fell for the ploy and who was unable to trap Burnside in the open. There were engagements at Loudoun, Lenoir’s Station, and at Campbell’s Station but the campaign culminated at the Battle of Fort Sanders, a strongly fortified bastion northwest of the city of Knoxville. There, on November 29, Longstreet launched a frontal assault on the fort. From start to finish, it lasted perhaps half-an-hour and, in the end, Longstreet lost 829 men, while Burnside’s casualties in the fort amounted to five men killed and eight wounded. It was one of the most lopsided battles of the war and for Burnside and his men, an unqualified victory.

The 48th Pennsylvania & The East Tennessee Campaign. . . 

Civil War Knoxville 

The 48^th Pennsylvania Infantry, which formed part of the 9^th Corps, participated in this long-overlooked but very important campaign in East Tennessee. Previous posts documented the regiment’s long 220-mile trek from central Kentucky to Knoxville and their experiences along the way. The post that follows documents their trials and triumphs from the middle of October to the end of November 1863, including their battles with Longstreet’s forces in Tennessee and at Fort Sanders.

Arriving in Knoxville in late September after a nineteen-day journey from Kentucky, the weary soldiers of the 48^th Pennsylvania were given a few days’ rest, which was very much needed and well-earned. The Schuylkill County men ventured into Knoxville and, said regimental historian Joseph Gould, “found everything up to our taste.” On September 29, the men were cheered by Generals Ambrose Burnside and John Parke who visited the men in their camps. But, alas, the regiment’s “breathing spell” came to an end on October 4 when orders arrived for the men to be in readiness to move. A Confederate force was operating northeast of the city and Burnside wanted them gone.

On October 4, the 48^th took the rails to Morristown and the next day marched to Lick Creek, where they remained until October 10. Along the way, Captain Oliver Bosbyshell of Company G could not help but be struck by the outpouring of support the regiment encountered as well as the Unionist sympathies: “As the train [from Knoxville] sped on, the most cheering evidences of the loyalty of the men of East Tennessee to the Union cause were apparent. At Strawberry Plains, Mossy Creek, Morristown and other stations, large numbers of the good, loyal men of East Tennessee were congregating, organizing regiments. Many were already armed. It was a motley but earned crowd—gray-haired, gray-bearded men of sixty jostled striplings of sixteen, all eager to do what they could to uphold the Union cause.”

At 9:00 a.m. on the morning of October 10 and preceded by a long column of cavalry and infantry, the regiment set out for Blue Springs where the Confederate force, “estimated from four to ten thousand strong” was found. Under orders from General Robert Potter, the 48^th Pennsylvania and 21^st Massachusetts regiments advanced into the fight. “As soon as we got near the woods,” said Gould, “a charge was made and we drove the enemy back, killing and wounding quite a number and taking a number of prisoners.” Night fell on the battlefield and the next morning—October 11—it was clear that the Confederates had fled. A pursuit was ordered and the 48^th covered some twenty miles. “It was probably the hottest marching day the regiment ever experienced,” said Gould and again, the regiment was impressed by the encouragement of the people. Said Bosbyshell of this march: “Greenville, the old home of President Andrew Johnson, was hurried through—at many of the houses little knots of ladies were gathered, who showed their sympathy with the Union cause, by vigorously waving their handkerchiefs as the troops passed. . . .” On October 12, the pursuit was called off—“We could not catch up to the rebel army,” recounted Gould, smugly, “they ran too fast for us.” Soon, orders arrived to return to Knoxville, and on October 13, the seasoned campaigners of the 48^th began to retrace their steps, back toward Greenville and Morristown before taking up the rails once more for Knoxville.

Wayside Marker Describing the Battle of Blue Springs (From www.100thpenn.com) 

Returning to Greenville—once home to Andrew Johnson—on October 13, the 48th took up a straw vote for the Governorship of Pennsylvania, and although the vote did not count in the election, it was taken only “to get the sentiment.” And there was no doubt where the sentiment of the soldiers lay. From within the ranks of the 48^th, the incumbent governor—Andrew Curtin, “The Soldiers’ Friend”—secured 264 votes; his opponent, the Democratic Party contender George Washington Woodward, received zero votes. “Andrew G. Curtin was a very popular man among the soldiers,” said Gould, the results of the regimental straw vote made this quite obvious. But the results in Pennsylvania were a lot closer. Curtin did triumph, receiving 269,506 votes to Woodward’s 254,171, the margin of victory being 2.9%.

Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin--"The Soldiers' Friend" 

Gould did his best to express the sympathies of Pennsylvania’s soldiers in the field and the meaning of this election, explaining that Curtin had “not only won the personal affection of Pennsylvania soldiers by his practical devotion to their interests, but he was known to be in earnest sympathy with their cause, and even Democratic soldiers, of whom there were many, believed that the issue directly affected their attitude as soldiers and the care of the State for themselves and their families, and their party prejudices largely perished.”

Harper's Weekly Scene Depicting Soldiers Voting 

Understandably, it rankled the men that their votes did not count in the general election; indeed, their votes would not be counted until 1864. Instead, all they could do was plead via letter with their families back home in the Keystone State to cast their support behind the “Soldiers’ Friend.” “[A]round the campfire, the question was discussed by the Pennsylvania soldiers,” said Gould, “and, certainly, three-fourths of them sent home the most urgent appeals to their fathers, brothers and friends to vote to sustain the patriotic philanthropic Governor of the State as a matter of duty in support of the soldiers’ cause. Not only did the soldiers appeal to the members of their immediate families, but to their many personal friends whom they knew at home, and the result was mute, but omnipotent, expression from our soldiers in the field to their relatives and friends at home. .  . .” Their efforts, contended Gould, is what helped Curtin secure reelection. In a letter to the Miners’ Journal dated October 17, 1863, Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Sigfried, commanding the regiment, made known the regimental results and expressed the anger of the regiment that their votes would not count: “The soldier has cast party aside,” said Sigfried. “The only question he asks is, who is our friend and the friend of the cause we are fighting for?” The answer was obvious; it was Curtin. What was more, “The soldier justly believes and contends that if any one is entitled to a vote it is he who is willing to leave family, friends, and all the comforts of home, and if need be, die in sustaining and in carrying out the laws.” It was a shame, said Sigfried; a disgrace. Still, the men were elated when word arrived that Curtin did, in fact, prevail and, as Sigfried stated with perhaps just a little overstatement, the result “has given new life to the soldier and given him more encouragement than any victory that has been achieved since the commencement of this war.”  Bosbyshell echoed Sigfried’s thoughts in his regiment history, written thirty years later. The announcement of Curtin’s reelection, which was made at dress parade on October 17, “was greeted with tumultuous cheers, making the old woods ring. . . the boys had a right to yell.”

~Colonel Joshua Sigfriend~
Commanded 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, 9th Corps in East Tennessee

Having arrived back at their old campsites at Knoxville, the soldiers of the 48^th—when not engaged in political discussion—kept themselves busy in camp. Some days passed quietly; others in anticipation. Finally, late on October 22, the regiment received orders: they were to move south to Loudoun. Boarding train cars at 10:00 o’clock that night, the regiment arrived at Loudoun—some thirty miles south—around 1:00 a.m. on the morning of October 23. “The command bivouacked along the railway tracks,” said Bosbyshell, “most of the men and officers occupying the ties for a bed, with the rail for a pillow.” The soldiers were awoken by a downpour of rain a few hours later; and that rain continued to pelt the men for most of that wet, miserable day. It wasn’t until the following afternoon when the regiment at last secured a comfortable camping ground on the north side of the Holston River. There, at Loudoun, the men remained encamped for the next several days while Burnside contemplated his strategy in dealing with Longstreet.

Campaign Map 

On October 27, the 48^th received orders to fall back to Lenoir’s Station, where the regiment remained for more than two weeks, awaiting developments and establishing what many thought would be their winter camps. But during this time, Burnside was busy preparing to set a trap for Longstreet. He sent units south to engage Longstreet and lure him toward Knoxville. Longstreet, detached from Bragg’s army, had been hoping to quickly catch Burnside in the open and destroy him, but Burnside was always one step ahead of his foe and executed a successful retreating action, each time bringing new forces to front—to deal with the advance of Longstreet—while also sending other forces along the roads leading north, to Knoxville.

On the morning of November 15, the 48^th was sent back to Loudoun, where they saw some action. “During the morning the 23^rd Army Corps commenced skirmishing with the rebels,” recounted Gould, “Our brigade. . .soon relieved these new troops, with orders to hold the enemy in check long enough to enable the artillery and wagon-trains time to fall back, on account of the bad conditions of the roads, the result of heavy and continued rains. This being accomplished, we fell back slowly about 4 p.m., and was relieved by the 2^nd Brigade of our Division. About 6 p.m. we again reached Lenoir. Then commenced our constant movement towards Knoxville, marching by night and fighting by day, the object being two-fold: to retard the advance of the enemy to Knoxville, and to save our trains and artillery, the roads being so bad that the latter was only saved through the aid of the infantry.”

From Lenoir’s Station, the next stop on the way back to Knoxville was Campbell’s Station—a crucial road intersection that Longstreet hoped to reach before Burnside, but Burnside beat him to the punch, with elements of his 9^th Corps arriving there first. 

Battle of Campbell's Station--November 16, 1863 

The weary, cold and wet soldiers of the 48^th—having marched since 2:00 a.m. that dreary morning—arrived at Campbell’s Station around 6:00 a.m., when they halted and turned to confront Longstreet’s pursuing columns. “Between 8 and 9 o’clock a.m.,” said Bosbyshell, “matters assumed a serious look—the rebels closed in on both roads, directly at Campbell’s Station, and the fighting became the fiercest at this point.” Longstreet would later dismiss the battle at Campbell’s Station as solely an artillery affair, but Bosbyshell summarized Burnside’s intentions: “It was not Burnside’s wish to engage the enemy at close quarters at this point; he was maneuvering for time, intending to retire to Knoxville where fortifications were being erected. So the battle of Campbell’s Station was a fight to hinder the rebels’ approach and delay it as long as possible.” Gould remembered that the “engagement continued during the entire day, beginning early, and ending only when darkness rendered it impossible to distinguish friend from foe.” Slowly, Burnside’s lines gave way under the weight of superior Confederate numbers, falling back from one position to the next, slowing Longstreet and luring him closer to Knoxville and further away from Bragg at Chattanooga. “The maneuvering was perfect,” summarized Bosbyshell as Longstreet continued to fall for the trap. When darkness descended on the battlefield that night, Burnside once more ordered his men to fall back and, once more, the tired soldiers of the 48^th marched through the night. . .arriving worn out and bone tired in the outer defenses of Knoxville early on the morning of November 17.

Defenses of Knoxville--Fort Sanders, top left

Captain Orlando Poe—Burnside’s chief engineer—had been hard at work in establishing an impressive defenses surrounding Knoxville. Even so, when Burnside’s men arrived back at the city and with Longstreet’s men closing in, they, too, picked up the spade and axe to further strengthen the line. “The pick and shovel were used to great advantage,” recounted Gould, “and the city was soon encircled with a strong line of earthworks extending from the Holston River below the city, clean around it to a point on the same river above.” Bosbyshell told a similar story in his work: “Shovels, picks and axes were in demand, and hard work fell upon the men, day and night. Formidable entrenchments were erected running from the Holston River on the southwest side of the town, all around to the same river on the northeast side, with Fort Sanders, an earthwork of strength, occupying the most commanding elevation in the whole line.” Indeed, Knoxville was rendered thoroughly defensible, especially on the Ninth Corps’ front.” For nearly two weeks, the two sides stared at one another, while Longstreet considered his options. By this point, Bragg was pleading with Longstreet to attack at once and then return to Chattanooga, since Grant was marshalling his forces for an all-out assault on Bragg’s now thinned ranks. Longstreet, on the other hand, considered and initially adopted a plan to lay siege to Knoxville and to Burnside’s men, but with so few troops and unable to completely encircle the city and with food and provisions trickling in daily to Union camps from south of the river, it was never a true siege.

Meanwhile, as Longstreet contemplated his move, the soldiers in the ranks thought of their loved ones at home as the Thanksgiving Holiday came and went, recalling past celebrations during happier times. The soldiers of the 48^th occupied a position in the earthworks north of the city. The regiment at this time was commanded by Major Joseph Gilmour since Lt. Col. Sigfried has been elevated to temporary command of the First Brigade, Second Division, Ninth Corps. 

~Major Joseph Gilmour~
Commander, 48th PA, in East Tennessee 

Nearby the 48^th stood Fort Sanders, an impressive earthen fortification named for the lamented Colonel William Sanders, who had been mortally wounded west of the city on November 18 and who passed away the following morning. Fort Sanders was, at once, the strongest and most vulnerable point in the Union defenses at Knoxville; its walls rose nearly 18 feet in height and the recent rains and ice had made them nearly impossible to climb; the fort was surrounded by a ditch, and to the front, trees had been felled and telegraph wire strung between the stumps. But it was also a salient jutting out like the proverbial sore thumb and because of this, Longstreet decided the attack would be made there. Lafayette McLaws tried to dissuade Longstreet from attacking once rumors began circulating through Confederate camps that Bragg had been defeated at Chattanooga, but “Old Pete” Longstreet would not be deterred: the attack would continue.

Post-Battle Image of Fort Sanders 

Early on the morning of November 29, the ground west of Knoxville trembled as Confederate gunner E.P. Alexander unloosed a steady barrage of artillery toward Fort Sanders. After this twenty minute cannonade, McLaws’s infantry attacked. . . .and they would soon be bloodily repulsed. The attack on Fort Sanders lasted less than half-an-hour; during this time, Longstreet’s columns were butchered and barely a dent was made on the strong Union lines.

Kurz & Allison Depiction of the Attack on Fort Sanders 

Although not stationed in Fort Sanders, the 48^th Pennsylvania was subjected to the exploding shot and shell of Alexander’s artillery and they did witness the slaughter that ensued. As Bosbyshell remembered, “Before daylight, he [Longstreet] hurled a column of sixteen regiments deep against Fort Sanders, with lamentable results to the attacking party. [Captain Poe and the engineers] had taken the precaution to clear away the forest in the front of the fort, leaving the stumps sticking well up. Stretching from stump to stump, [they] crossed and recrossed telegraph wire. When this column of regimental front, and sixteen regiments deep, moving to the attack in the darkness before dawn, came upon the entangled mass of wire, the troops were thrown into inextricable confusion, their organizations helplessly broken, and the whole command no better than an unorganized mob. So impetuous, however, was the mad rush for the fort, that the flags of the 13^th and 17^th Mississippi and the 16^th Georgia were actually planted on the corner thereof—but only for a moment, as the Union troops captured them. [Lieutenant Samuel] Benjamin [a 9^th Corps artillery commander] was coolly lighting shells, with shortened fuses, and tossing them with his hands over the parapet into the ditch surrounding the earthwork—causing death and confusion to the crowded mass of disorganized troops. . . . .The strife did not last long, and the enemy fled dismayed. An armistice, lasting from daylight until 7 p.m. marked this Sunday. Four stands of rebel colors were captured, 300 rebel dead laid around Fort Sanders, as many more were wounded, and the same number made prisoners. The corner of Fort Sanders, and the ditch before it, was filled with dead and dying men—the sight was horrible.”

MOLLUS Sketch, "The Attack on Knoxville" 

Joseph Gould, in his regimental history, was equally descriptive of this doomed Confederate attack: “Just before daybreak on Sunday, the 29^th of November, the rebels made a fierce charge upon this work. . . .When they reached the wires. . .they were tripped up and fell over one another in the dim light of daybreak, the lines became terribly broken up and in confusion. Some adventurous spirits reached the ramparts, only to be bayonetted by the troops. Others rolled headlong into the ditch. The line to right and left of Sanders enfiladed them. . . .The enemy pressed up; they cut away the abates; they filled the ditch, and a few made their way to the top of the parapet. There a terrible hand-to-hand contest ensued; clubbed muskets, bayonets, sabers, even spades and axes were employed in the dreadful work, and not a score of the brave storming party escaped. . . .The engagement was altogether in favor of the Union side, and was soon terminated. The field in front of the fort was thickly strewn with the misguided men in gray, and a great many were made prisoners.”

The Attack on Fort Sanders, from Harper's Weekly 

Indeed, it was an engagement “altogether in favor of the Union.” Inside Fort Sanders, Burnside lost just five men killed and eight wounded (although additional casualties were sustained by regiments outside the fort, including several members of the 48^th). Longstreet’s casualties, on the other hand, equaled 829, in one of the most lopsided battles of the war. After the attack and as his men were retreating, Longstreet discovered that the rumors were, indeed, true. . .Bragg had been soundly defeated and routed from Chattanooga at the hands of U.S. Grant. It was a gloomy, dismal day for Confederate fortunes. Afterwards, Longstreet considered his next move. He decided against returning to Bragg’s defeated army in Georgia and simply stayed where he was, outside of Knoxville and facing the formidable Union works to his front. But when he learned that Union General William T. Sherman had been sent north from Grant’s army to “rescue” Burnside’s men “trapped” in Knoxville, Longstreet wisely decided to side-step Knoxville and he moved his ragged gray-and-butternut column to the northeast when they would spend a miserably cold and snowy winter in the mountains of East Tennessee.

The soldiers of the 48^th were very proud of their involvement in the successful campaign for East Tennessee. They kept a steady watch on Longstreet’s men to their front, but on December 4^, Captain Joseph Hoskings, commanding Company F and in charge of the picket line, noticed that the Confederates had “disappeared” and the nineteen-day siege of Knoxville was over. The following day—December 5— a proud Ambrose Burnside dictated General Field Orders No. 34 to the men of his command: “The Commanding General congratulates the troops on the raising of the siege. With unsurpassed fortitude and patient watchfulness they have sustained the wearing duties of the defense, and, with unyielding courage, they have repulsed the most desperate assaults. [The men of this command have] nobly guarded the loyal region it redeemed from its oppressors, and has rendered the heroic defense of Knoxville memorable in the annals of the war.”

Although the men rejoiced, there was still some mourning for those of the regiment who had fallen either killed or wounded. In all, from November 15 to December 5, the 48^th lost 5 men killed or mortally wounded, an additional 7 men wounded, and 6 captured or missing. The casualties of the 48^th during the East Tennessee Campaign and as reported  by Major Gilmour on December 6, 1863, are as follows:

Killed/Mortally Wounded:
-Sergeant Joseph Reed, Company H: mortally wounded at Cambell’s Station, 11/16/1863; died the same day
-Corporal John Sponslor, Company H: mortally wounded at Knoxville, 11/29/1863; died the same day
-Private Jonas Haldeman, Company I: killed at Knoxville, 11/29/1863; died the same day
-Private Joseph Weise, Company H: mortally wounded at Knoxville, 11/24/1863; died 11/28/1863
-Private Charles Weaver, Company I: mortally wounded at Knoxville, 12/3/1863; died 12/5/1863

Wounded:
-1^st Lieutenant Jacob Douty, Company K: wounded at Knoxville, 11/24/1863
-2^nd Lieutenant Henry Clay Jackson, Company G: wounded at Knoxville, 11/29/1863
-Private Martin Tobin, Company C: severely wounded at Knoxville, 11/24/1863
-Private J.F. Wildermuth, Company H: wounded at Knoxville, 11/22/1863
-Private James Heiser, Company I: wounded at Knoxville, 11/29/1863
-Private John Murphy, Company K: wounded at Knoxville, 11/23/1863
-Private Austin Farrow, Company F: wounded at Knoxville, 11/28/1863

Captured/Missing In Action:
-Private George Livingston, Company A: Missing in Action at Campbell’s Station, 11/16/1863
-Private Daniel Root, Company B: Missing in Action at Knoxville, 11/29/1963
-Private Robert McElrath, Company C: Missing in Action at Knoxville, 11/24/1863
-Private James Brennan, Company E: Missing in Action at Knoxville, 11/29/1863
-Private Issac Arndt, Company I: Wounded Severely and Left Behind on the Field of Campbell’s Station, 11/16/1863
-Private J.K. Sherman, Company K: Missing in Action at Knoxville, 11/29/1863

The 48th/150th: A Brief Respite in Knoxville. . .Then Off To Bull's Gap

Harpers' Weekly. . .Various Views of Knoxville in the Civil War 

After a long and exhausting 221-mile, two-and-a-half week march from Lexington to Knoxville, the weary and lean soldiers of the 48^th Pennsylvania took a much-needed and well-deserved break. For several days—rainy and cold days—they lounged about their camps just to the north of the city. Some took advantage of the lull in campaigning to see the sites in Knoxville. “The still days in camp,” related Captain Bosbyshell, “we utilized in visiting points of interest in and around the town.” The city was built on a series of hills, on the north side of the Holston River, and, said Bosbyshell, “The houses crown the summits of the hills and run down the sides of the same. This formation renders many of the streets hilly. There were a number of fine looking streets—wide, straight and neatly built up. Some handsome residences adorned the town, and the whole place indicated plenty and prosperity.” “We found everything up to our taste,” said Joseph Gould.

Bosbyshell and the soldiers of the 48^th were equally struck by the scenic beauty surrounding Knoxville. “The country about Knoxville is very beautiful, and situated, as most of the houses are, on high ground, the views obtained by the dwellers thereof are satisfactory to a degree. The Holston River winds around its southern side, and the scenery up and down this stream is particularly beautiful and engaging. South of the river a broad expanse of excellently wooded country spreads out for miles—broken here and there by cultivated farms of the most productive kind.”

1865 View of Knoxville
[www.civilwarshades.org] 

The hills described here by Bosbyshell would be of great value to Captain Orlando Poe, Burnside’s chief engineer who, in the days ahead, would transform Knoxville into a fortress, establishing a line of defenses around the city, to cover approaches from the west, north, and east. Burnside had arrived in Knoxville to a hero’s welcome in early September and reported the liberation of the city and of East Tennessee. The administration in Washington, though grateful for Burnside’s good news, were, at the moment, more concerned about Rosecrans’s Army of the Cumberland about 110 miles further south, in northern Georgia. After his defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga (September 19-20), there were many in Washington who wanted Burnside to move south to help Rosecrans’s beleaguered force, now nearly surrounded and trapped at Chattanooga. But this would not be easy for Burnside: to transport his command—still thoroughly winded from their long march to East Tennessee—across ground still filled with various, small Confederate commands and with many of the rail bridges between Knoxville and Chattanooga destroyed by Simon Buckner’s Confederates when they abandoned East Tennessee a month earlier. Burnside did start moving his command south, with a sizeable force arriving at Loudoun on the Tennessee River. By this point, however, both Rosecrans and the War Department decided that Burnside would not be needed at Chattanooga—there were plenty of reinforcements coming to his aid, from the west, under Grant, and from the east, with the 11^th and 12^th Corps, which had been detached from the Army of the Potomac.

Burnside’s primary goal thus became establishing a firm control over the east Tennessee countryside. For the 48^th, this meant a mission toward Bull’s Gap, some 60-odd miles east of Knoxville. At 9:00 o’clock on the morning of October 4 and with five days’ light rations but with no tents or baggage, the soldiers of the 48^th picked up their muskets and headed into the city where they boarded trains. “As the train sped on,” related Bosbyshell, “the most cheering evidences of the loyalty of the men of East Tennessee to the Union cause were apparent. At Strawberry Plains, Mossy Creek, Morristown and other stations, large numbers of the good, loyal men of East Tennessee were congregating, organizing regiments. Many were already armed. It was a motley but earnest crowd—gray-haired, gray-bearded men of sixty jostled striplings of sixteen, all eager to do what they could to uphold the Union cause. The entire trip to Bull’s Gap exhibited the same expressions of loyalty on all sides—a demonstration not excelled north of Mason and Dixon’s line.”

All day on October 4, the 48^th were riding the rails and by 10:00 p.m.—thirteen hours after leaving Knoxville—they arrived at Bull’s Gap, stepped off the trains, stretched their legs and went into bivouac. The cold night made them miss their shelter tents, left behind in Knoxville.

East Tennessee. . .

For the next two weeks, the 48^th Pennsylvania found itself campaigning in the mountainous regions of East Tennessee. 

The 48th/150th: The "Long, Long Tramp" To Knoxville

(In the Fall and Winter of 1863, Major General Ambrose Burnside achieved much success dealing with Confederate general James Longstreet in the oft-overlooked East Tennessee/Knoxville Campaign, successfully out-marching, out-maneuvering, and out-fighting this much revered Confederate commander. As part of the 9^th Army Corps, the 48^th Pennsylvania was involved in much of this campaign; a campaign that certainly does not rank among the more famous ones of the war, but an important one nonetheless. Over the next few weeks, I will be documenting the experiences of the regiment during this East Tennessee Campaign, beginning with their long, 221-mile, two-week march from Lexington to Knoxville).

Click on this link to view a map of the 48th's journey from Lexington to Knoxville:

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=znAlpNRukuKE.k3qNxU98RZCA

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

After saying farewell to their friends in Lexington, Kentucky, the soldiers of the 48^th departed on train for Nicholasville, then on foot “along a very dusty turnpike” to within three miles of Camp Nelson—Burnside’s supply base for the campaign. The soldiers set up camp and the next day—September 11, 1863—a thorough regimental inspection was made, of the men’s weapons, accoutrements, and clothing. There, the regiment reattached itself to its larger command: the 1^st Brigade, 2^nd Division, of the 9^th Corps, which consisted of the 48^th PA, 2^nd MD, 6^th NH, 21^st MA, and 11^th NH (though this regiments was only temporarily attached to the brigade; it would remained with it for only six days). Because he was the senior colonel, Joshua Sigfried of the 48^th took command of the brigade.

Sigfried’s orders were to get his men across the Cumberland Gap and to Knoxville, at the heart of East Tennessee. Ambrose Burnside had himself arrived triumphantly in the city nine days earlier—on September 2—with a mixed force, mainly of the 23^rd Corps. But now his 9^th Corps soldiers were needed and Sigfried considered his best route and manner of march. As Oliver Bosbyshell explained, “Having a march of over two hundred miles. . .he determined to avail himself of the early morning, and later afternoon hours, affording ample time for rest during the heated portion of the day. Orders were promulgated requiring a steady tramp for three-quarters of an hour, and then a halt of fifteen minutes, with three hours’ rest during the middle of the day. This systematic march as rigidly adhered to,” said Bosbyshell, “and resulted in a rapid covering of the distance to be accomplished, with a minimum degree of fatigue on the part of the troops.” Apparently, Sigfried was quite “punctilious” in making sure his orders for the march were carried out and any deviation “would result in a sharp reproof.”

September of 1863 witnessed the 48^th Pennsylvania covering great distances in their march from Kentucky to Knoxville, Tennessee. A day-by-day account of their journey follows, with some descriptions of the march and their experiences along the way as told by Captain Bosbyshell:

Saturday, September 12: The march begins and the regiment tramped ten miles through a “terrific rain storm” before arriving at Camp Dick Robinson “in a thoroughly drenched condition.” Despite the rain, the Schuylkill County soldiers enjoyed the “grand scenery along the Kentucky River—hilly, rocky and romantic.”

Camp Dick Robinson, KY

 

Sunday, September 13: With the rain by now over and the skies cleared, the 48^th set off on the march, passing through the small town of Lancaster—“a pretty village, the good folks of which were going to service, summoned by the merry ringing of the church bells.” After their mid-day rest, the men continued on their way, ultimately reaching Dick’s River; that day, the regiment marched 17.5 miles.

 

20th-Century Aerial View of Lancaster, KY

 

Monday, September 14: Departing Dick’s River, the regiment marched through Crab Orchard, “which at the time presented a rather dismal, mean appearance.” Near there, the regiment settled into camp “under the wide spreading branches of a fine old woods, the delights of which were enjoyed all day on. . .”

Tuesday, September 15: The weather was cool and invigorated as the soldiers enjoyed a day off from the march.

Wednesday, September 16: The long journey to Knoxville was renewed and the command covered eleven miles, arriving near Mount Vernon after marching along roads described as “exceedingly rough, filled with stone and rocks, and very hilly.”

 

Modern-Day Aerial View of Mount Vernon, KY

 

Thursday, September 17: On the one-year anniversary of the Battle of Antietam, the men of the 48^th broke camp at 6:00 a.m. and marched through Mount Vernon. What thoughts about Antietam and their friends and comrades they lost there, we cannot know, but Captain Bosbyshell recorded that the men were struck by the way the residents here extruded coal from the ground. “It was curious to the men from the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania,” said the Pottsville native, “to see the people here so easily supplying themselves with coal from the veins cropping out on the surface beside the road. They simply shoveled black dirt into wagons.” The march that day was a rough one. “The way was up hill and down dale constantly. In many places the road being extremely rough and difficult of passage, especially for the [wagon] teams.” At noon, and having already crossed over some high mountains, the regiment rested at Big Rockcastle River. While resting there, several hundred Confederate prisoners—captured by Burnside’s men at Cumberland Gap—marched past “on their way to Yankee land.” They were, said Bosbyshell, “a dirty, greasy looking set of fellows.” At 3:00 p.m., the march resumed. Crossing Wild Cat Mountain, the regiment went into bivouac near Little Rockcastle River at 5:30. The sixteen mile trek that day—up and down—over rough roads had made the men weary.

 

Rockcastle River [www.smallcreekfishing.com]

 

Friday, September 18: A shorter journey was in store this day. After breaking camp at 6:30 a.m., the regiment marched but eight miles before reaching a place named Pittman’s, just three miles from London.

Saturday, September 19: Broke camp early and marched nine miles before the welcome noon-halt arrived; another three miles were covered that afternoon before the regiment was ordered into camp. A welcome visitor arrived soon afterward—Major Fell—a U.S. Army paymaster and “the boys’ pocketbooks were thoroughly reinforced.”

Sunday, September 20: The weather was “cool and damp, with a dense fog covering field and road” when the regiment broke camp at 6:30 a.m. By 9:00, the fog had lifted and the sun appeared. The regimental halted at 1:00 p.m. within a mile of Barboursville. When the march resumed, the soldiers of the 48^th passed through “this small country village of scattering houses, some stores and a couple of taverns” before going into bivouac on the banks of the Cumberland River. In all, the regiment covered 15.5 miles that day. It was on this day also when Colonel Sigfried resumed command of the 48^th, since Brigadier General Simon Griffin arrived back with the command to take charge of the brigade. Griffin had assumed brigade command in May 1863, taking the place of General James Nagle who had resigned.

Colonel Simon Griffin, 6th NH

 

 

Monday, September 21: The regiment resumed the march at 7:00 a.m. and covered some thirteen miles before settling into camp near Cumberland Ford, where the soldiers “were comfortably quartered in an extensive apple orchard. . . .amid the most attractive scenery, indeed as the march followed all day the windings of the river, the charms of the richest autumnal effect impressed the entire command.”  “The march so far,” summarized Bosbyshell, “was enjoyed by all—no complaint reached any ears, straggling was unheard of and no sickness in the command—all seemed hearty and well, not in the least broken down, but fresh and active.” That’s what he said, at least.

 

Cumberland River [www.fw.ky.gov]

 

Tuesday, September 22: In a very heavy fog, the regiment left camp at 7:00 a.m. and crossed the three Log Mountains. The road they used was “decidedly rough, stony and generally troublesome.” The regiment halted at noon at Yellow Creek, but they were off again several hours later, marching “over dusty roads and exposed to a hot sun.” At 3:30 p.m., the regiment crossed the Cumberland Gap; they were now in Tennessee. An hour later, the command halted and the regiment went into camp at the foot of the mountain—on the Tennessee side—having covered fourteen “tedious” miles that day.

 

Soldiers Crossing the Cumberland Gap into Tennessee

 

Wednesday, September 23: The march continued and all day—excepting the three hour break—the men continued toward Knoxville. At 4:30, after covering thirteen more miles, they reached the edge of Tazewell, a town that “impressed all favorably, although a large part of it had been destroyed by fire—the blackened ruins showing its extent.”

 

Old Jail, Tazewell, TN, built in 1819 [Wikipedia.org]

 

Thursday, September 24: Departed Tazewell at 7:00 and, after a march of eight miles, arrived at the Clinch River. There, the bridge had been destroyed and so the men were forced to wade across. After a sometimes “treacherous” crossing, the regiment went into bivouac in order to give the men an opportunity to wash their clothes. “Tents were pitched beside the road facing the river. The opposite bank, where the command came from, presented high rocky cliffs, jagged and torn, extremely picturesque.”

Friday, September 25: Broke camp at 6:00 a.m., and two-and-a-half hours later, the regiment began the climb up and over Clinch Mountain. “The road up the mountain, whilst quite steep in places, was found good,” but the view from the top was even better. “From the summit a superb view breaks upon the sight,” remembered Bosbyshell. “‘Tis said four States can be seen: Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. A vast extent of country spreads before the vision.” Though a beautiful view from top, the tramp down the mountain was fraught with peril. “The descent was most difficult. . . .The troops could manage fairly well, but the brigade wagons. . .had a rough passage. With the aid of long ropes, the men prevented these wagons from slipping over the banks and falling down the yawning precipices. The task was finally accomplished, with the loss of one wheel and an iron bolt.” At noon, a halt was called at the foot of the mountain. At 2:00 p.m., the march resumed and the men reached the Holston River, which they waded before setting up camp on the southern banks of the river. Crossing two rivers and a mountain, the regiment covered fifteen miles this day.

 

View From The Summit of Clinch Mountain [www.city-data.com]

 

Saturday, September 26: Stretching their legs, the soldiers of the 48^th set out at 7:00 a.m., passed through Bean’s Station and then through Morristown—“a shabby-looking little village.”  It was there that General Griffin received a dispatch from Burnside: make your way directly to Knoxville! Griffin led the brigade to Panther Springs where the noon halt was made; at 2:00 p.m., it was once again on the move, arrived that night at Mossy Creek, having covered eighteen miles that day, “which, considering the heat and the never ending clouds of dust, was a fair day’s work.”

Sunday, September 27: Broke camp at 6:00 a.m.; rested at Beaver Creek then resumed the march to Strawberry Plains, where, again, the regiment had to cross the winding Holston River. There was a bridge here; however, its plank walkway was wide enough to accommodate one person at a time. Those on horseback, as well as the wagons, had to cross the river at a ford some three miles further downriver. Having crossed the river, the regiment found a camping ground at McMillan’s Farm, which amply stocked with straw. “So the Sabbath’s march ended, and sinking into piles of straw, beneath the brilliant rays of the moon, the command forgot in sleep its long, long tramp from Lexington.” They bedded down only thirteen miles from Knoxville.

 

1886 Birds' Eye View of Knoxville, TN

 

Monday, September 28: At 6:00 a.m., the regiment resumed its march. “Over a very dusty road, the last day of the great march over the mountains from Lexington to Knoxville had arrived.” At 3:00 p.m. the 48^th at last arrived. The regiment went into camp “on the top of a small hill to the left of the road” and, reflected Bosbyshell, “Thus ended the 221 miles’ march, a march remarkable for its extent and the entire freedom from fatigue by the men of the command. The regularity of the tramp, with its times for rest nicely adjusted, undoubtedly contributed to so satisfactory a result, and is in every way creditable to General Sigfried’s sagacity and good sense.”

Tuesday, September 29: This day was a day of well-deserved rest; all day the men remained quietly in camp. They were visited there by Generals Ambrose Burnside and John Parke, “who rode through the company streets during the afternoon to see how the boys looked after the long tramp.” The 48^th greeted their beloved Burnside with cheers, “long and loud.”

 

Major General Ambrose Burnside
 

 

 

 

The 48th/150th: Bidding Farewell to Lexington

After a six-month-long stint as provost guards in Lexington, the 48^th Pennsylvania, on September 8, 1863, received orders to leave Kentucky and rejoin the Ninth Corps, which was then on its way to East Tennessee. Just a week before, Major General Ambrose Burnside triumphantly entered Knoxville to a hero’s ovation, the first step in what would prove a very successful campaign in East Tennessee.

Harpers Weekly depiction of Burnside entering Knoxville. . .

 

The soldiers of the 48^th expressed much regret at having to leave Lexington; they had grown fond of the city and many of the Schuylkill County boys had fallen in love with the young ladies of Lexington, who were the subject of many of their letters home. But orders were orders, and on the morning of September 10, the regiment left Lexington, their spot as provost guards having been taken by the 7^th Rhode Island Infantry. “Leaving the quarters so long occupied,” wrote Oliver Bosbyshell, the regiment marched down Limestone Street Main Street and from there to the Kentucky Central Railroad. Hundreds of people turned out to bid farewell to the 48^th and, said Bosbyshell, “the departure was leaving home.”

A letter that appeared in the Miners’ Journal described the scene:

The soldiers of the 48^th  “were greeted, while passing through the city, with the waving of handkerchiefs, numerous shaking of hands, bidding of ‘good-byes,’ and in many instances, by the shedding of tears. Several times the band struck up with ‘The Girl I Left Behind Me,’ at which many of the boys would assume a melancholy look, and some would apply the handkerchief to their eyes, which bespoke that truth was issuing from the horns with telling effect. When the column reached the Court House the Colonel proposed ‘three cheers for the good people of Lexington’ which was given with a hearty good will, and three more were as cheerfully given some distance further down the street. Upon reaching the depot they were met by a large number of citizens who had congregated there to take a final leave of ‘soldiers who are gentleman in all they do and say.’ After waiting nearly an hour, the train as pronounced in readiness, the regiment got aboard, and the trains started. As they were moving away, the boys off with their caps and cheered vociferously until they were out of sight, thus bidding adieu to attachments that will not be forgotten as long as life last.”

In his regimental history, written more than forty years later, Joseph Gould fondly remembered the regiment’s time at Lexington: “The 48^th Pennsylvania Regiment has had charge of this post for nearly six months, and the efficient, quiet and orderly manner with which it has been conducted has won praise from all—even rebel sympathizers have admired them, and spoken of them in the highest praise. Many attachments have been formed by them between both young and old of both sexes, which will never be blotted from memory. They parted and were parted with as reluctantly as if they were leaving their homes and kindred—in fact, some were doing so, several having married since their arrival here and others were on the eve of doing so. Many were the parting words, and tears that fell from lips and eyes as the boys lingered at the gates, as if it were almost impossible to go, but ‘duty called and they must obey,’ and bid good-bye to ‘all they held dear.’

But before setting off, an anonymous soldier of the 48^th, writing on behalf of the entire regiment, penned this heartfelt letter to the editor of Lexington’s leading newspaper, expressing their thanks for the gracious hospitality of the citizens there during their long stay:

                “Mr. Editor: We cannot leave this place without expressing some of the feeling that is stirred within us as say our ‘farewells,’ and ‘good byes’ to the good people of Lexington.

                “We have been treated most kindly by nearly all; we have become acquainted with many; admitted to the homes and shared the hospitalities of some, and formed friendships that are as warm, and shall last as long as any of life. And while we have been treated kindly by some who have avowed themselves as rebel sympathizers, it is to the strictly loyal men and women that we owe our deepest gratitude. They are to us as brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, and it seems as hard to say the little, sad and mournful ‘good-bye,’ as when we left our own homes. We part from them with regret. Their many deed of kindness, words of cheer, and their many blessings shall be deeply engraven on our hearts, and often, in the busy and crowded future that is before us, we shall love to think of the noble girls who say:

                ‘But your country called you, darling,
                                Angels cheer your way;
                While our nation’s sons are fighting,
                                We can only pray.
                Nobly strike for God and liberty,
                                Let all nations see
                How we love the starry banner,
                                Emblem of the free

                “And the kind and glorious mothers who have treated us as sons, ministered to our wants only dreamed of by mothers, and who have shed the halo of that mysterious and unaccountable influence over every word and deed, that seems as the reflected image of our own fond, dear mothers. And God will surely bless you. Who shall say the right in not with us? Who shall say that the ultimate triumph of this war can be other than the return of peace with the Union of our country unimpaired?

                “The prayers of the mothers and fair daughters of our country, their heroic self-sacrifices and noble words of sympathy, cheer and love infused into the hearts of its brave defenders, rekindling the fires of patriotism with a deeper intensity. We must save our country from the hands of the destroyer.

                “The women of Kentucky send their greetings to the mothers and daughters of Pennsylvania through the affections of their sons and brothers.

                “We say to them to-day ‘Farewell and God Bless you! Kind friends, farewell.”

                “We commend the 7^th Rhode Island Regiment to the citizens of Lexington with the hope that they will be treated as well as the 48^th was, which we can assure them if they behave themselves as well as the relieved regiment has done. Kentuckians are a fine people and treat everyone very kindly.”

                “FORTY-EIGHTH”

 

At last pulling away from Lexington and after a relatively short journey, the regiment arrived in Nicholasville where the men detrained and marched several more miles before settling into Camp Parke, very near Camp Nelson, Burnside’s massive supply depot. While there, a thorough inspection of the soldiers’ weapons, clothing, and accoutrements was made to make sure the men were still in fighting trim; there was a new campaign unfolding. The 48^th Pennsylvania still belonged to the 1^st Brigade, 2^nd Division, 9^th Corps, which also consisted of the hard-fighting 2^nd Maryland and 6^th New Hampshire and 21^st Massachusetts, all mainstays of the 9^th Corps. In command of the brigade was the senior colonel, Joshua Sigfried of the 48^th.

 

Colonel Joshua K. Sigfried, 48th Pennsylvania

Colonel Sigfried’s task was to get his brigade to Knoxville via Cumberland Gap and join up with Burnside’s gathering forces there. A journey of over two hundred miles thus lay before him and the soldiers of the 48^th.

Camp Nelson, Kentucky. . .

Soldiers of the 48th: Bvt. Col. John D. Bertolette

151 Years Ago. . .on August 29, 1862. . .John D. Bertolette, a 1st Lieutenant serving on the staff of Colonel James Nagle, who led a brigade in the 9th Army Corps, fell seriously wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Advancing alongside Nagle on foot, through a thick woodlot and toward Stonewall Jackson's Confederate troops well-positioned in an unfinished railroad embankment, Bertolette watched as the soldiers of the 2nd Maryland, 6th New Hampshire, and 48th Pennsylvania pushed steadily on. Oliver Bosbyshell of Company G described the action:

“Off we moved, over a clear field, to quite a dense wood, out of which we were to drive the rebels. The wood was skirted by a fence, which we had scarcely crossed—in fact, our regiment was just getting over it—when bang! bang! whiz! whiz! and the battle commenced. . . .Our brigade went right in; walked steadily on, driving the rebels quickly before them, but losing men fast. A ditch of embankment, in which the rebels had shielded themselves, and from out of which the brigade which entered the woods before ours failed to drive them, our brigade assailed so fiercely, that it was soon cleared."

After achieving initial success in driving Jackson's men from the embankment, it was not long before the Confederates mounted a crushing flanking assault, firing into the left flank and rear of the brigade, which advanced with no support on either side. Nagle and Bertolette had tied their horses to the fence that skirted the woods, as did all the members of the colonel's staff. . .and all the horses were captured in this smashing flank assault.
Nagle and his staff fled for safety, being called on several times to halt and surrender but they, instead, took their chances and ran the gauntlet. In the melee--in the confusion, in the smoke that lay thick in the woodlot--Bertolette was shot down, a bullet slamming into his thigh. . .

 

John D. Bertolette was born on June 11, 1839, in Reading, Pennsylvania. He was studying law in Mauch Chunk (modern-day Jim Thorpe) under the tutelage of Attorney Charles Albright when the war broke out. He very quickly volunteered his services and on April 22, 1861, he was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant in the 6th Pennsylvania Infantry, a three-month unit commanded by Colonel James Nagle. When the 6th PA's term of service expired in late July, Nagle raised the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry, a three-year regiment. Nagle must have been struck by the young, twenty-two-year-old Bertolette, for he would assign him a staff officer's position--that of Assistant Adjutant General. Bertolette continued as a staff officer when Nagle was elevated to brigade command and then to the rank of brigadier general. And even after Nagle tendered his resignation in the Spring of 1863, Bertolette--recovering from his wound at 2nd Bull Run-- remained with the brigade, advancing to the rank of captain, then major, and ultimately to colonel, by brevet. He was mustered out of service in February 1866.

Following the war, Bertolette returned to Mauch Chunk, working as a partner at Albright's firm before establishing his own independent law practice. In 1869, Bertolette married Sarah Jane Loose, but their union proved to be a short one. On April 17, 1881, John Bertolette passed away at the age of forty-one. He was buried at the Lehighton Cemetery, in Carbon County, Pennsylvania.

The Grave of John D. Bertolette
(www.findagrave.com)

This past May, a flag that once belonged to Bertolette was donated to the Mauch Chunk Museum in Jim Thorpe: read about it here.

The 48th/150th: Getting Photographs Taken In Lexington

 



The photographers of Lexington, Kentucky, no doubt enjoyed the presence of the 48th Pennsylvania in their city during the summer of 1863. It would seem that during their five month stay in the city, many--if not most--of the regiment made their way to the studios of either the Elrod Brothers or W.R. Phipps and had their photographs taken.

 

The following are some of the images of some of the 48th Pennsylvania soldiers taken in Lexington during the summer of 1863.

 

 

* * * * * * * * *  * * * * * * * * * * * * * *



 

The Commanders of Company E
(Captain William Winlack, seated; Lts. Thomas Bohannon (left) and Joseph Fisher)
Elrod Brothers, Photographers
[From The Civil War Diaries of Lt. James K. Helms, The Patriotic Order, Sons of America]

 

 

 

The Commanders of Company G
(Captain Oliver Bosbyshell, seated, Lts. Curtis C. Pollock (left) and Henry Clay Jackson)Elrod Brothers, Photographers
[Hoptak Collection]



Three Unidentified Soldiers of the 48th PennsylvaniaElrod Brothers, Photographers
[From The Civil War Diaries of Lt. James K. Helms, The Patriotic Order, Sons of America]  

Major Joseph Wagner
W.R. Phipps, Photographers
[Hoptak Collection]

Private Daniel Ohnmacht
Elrod Brothers, Photographers
[Hoptak Collection]

Private Henry Davis, Co. A
W.R. Phipps, Photographers
[Hoptak Collection]  

Sgt. Joseph Edwards, Co. I
Elrod Brothers, Photographers
[Hoptak Collection]
 

Private James Meck, Co. A
Elrod Brothers, Photographers
[Hoptak Collection]

Unknown Soldier
Elrod Brothers, Photographers
(I have not been able to positively identify this soldier as 48th PA, but with that jacket, hat, and bowtie, there is a good chance he belonged to the regiment)
[Hoptak Collection]