Remembering the 48th Pennsylvania's Civil War Dead. . .

A likeness of Major Joseph Gilmour is carved upon his tombstone at his gravesite
in the Presbyterian Cemetery, Pottsville, PA 

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

Organized in the late summer of 1861 and officially disbanded when the regiment was mustered out of service on July 17, 1865, the 48th Pennsylvania was in its existence for almost the entirety of the Civil War. During its nearly four years of service, the 48th campaigned in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, and Tennessee, covering thousands of miles on foot, on rail, or by water. The regiment also participated in some of the war's bloodiest battles, suffering especially heavy losses at 2nd Bull Run, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg. Hundreds of its soldiers were wounded during the course of the conflict, while at least 329 of its members lost their lives, whether on the battlefield or in hospitals or in prisoner of war camps. And how many other of its soldiers whose lives were cut short, passing away prematurely after the war from injuries or illnesses sustained in service, I cannot say. The wartime dead of the 48th Pennsylvania lay at rest in no fewer than seven states as well as in the District of Columbia. 

On this Memorial Day it is only fitting and proper to take a moment to remember those of the 48th Pennsylvania who, during the course of America's Civil War, gave their last full measure of devotion. Their names and dates of death are listed below, in chronological order of their death, as are some of their images. I have told the stories of many of those listed below including many of those pictured; click their names to discover more about who they were. 

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

48^th Pennsylvania Civil War Deaths

1861 (8)

William Millet: Co. H: Died: 9/7/1861; Accidentally Killed on the Railroad in Harrisburg

Daniel Reighard: Co. C: 11/11/1861; Died at Camp Hamilton, VA

William Miller: Co. A: Died: 11/21/1861 at Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina.

Sergeant William T. Garrett, Co. H: Died 11/23/1861 at Fortress Monroe

Thomas Davidson, Co. B: Died 11/28/1861 at Hatteras, North Carolina

Lieutenant Alexander Fox, Co. D: Died: 12/1/1861 on steamer Spaulding near Fortress Monroe, VA

William Brerton, Co. F: Died at Ft. Clark, Hatteras Inlet, NC, 12/11/1861

Philip L. Diehl, Co. G: Died 12/23/1861, Hatteras, N.C.         

1862 (98)

Thomas McAvoy, Co. C: 1/14/1862; Died at Camp Winfield, NC

John Spreese, Co. A: Died: 1/21/1862 at New Bern, North Carolina

Surgeon David Minis: Died at Roanoke, North Carolina, N.C., 2/14/1862, of over-exerting himself attending to the wounded

George F. Mains, Co. K: Died 3/30/1862 at Hatteras, NC

Andrew Spear, Co. D: Died 4/15/1862 at Newbern, NC

Bernard West, Co. A: Died: 5/12/1862 in New Bern, North Carolina.

Daniel Flagerty, Co. C: Died 5/28/1862 in Newbern, North Carolina

Andrew Klock, Co. D: Died of typhoid fever 6/30/1862 at Newbern, NC

Charles Treisbach, Co. F: Died 7/1/1862

Addison Seaman, Co. D: Died of Disease,  7/16/1862

Mattis Sheafer, Co. D: Died 8/4/1862; Committed Suicide on board steamer Cossack

Abraham Ferrer, Co. B: Died August 7, 1862

Israel Eiler, Co. B: Died August 7, 1862, in New York

Alexander Boone, Co. I: Died in Fredericksburg, 8/11/1862

Franklin Wetzel, Co. A: Died: 8/12/1862; Drowned in the Potomac River as the result of the sinking of the steamer West Point.

1st Lt. George H. Gressang, Co. I: Drowned 8/12/1862 by the sinking of the steamer West Point

Thomas G. Williams, Co. B: Drowned 8/13/1862 on the Potomac River

John H. Leiser, Co. A: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862.

Louis M. Reece, Co. B: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

John Weiser, Co. C: 8/29/1862; Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run

Barney Gettler, Co. C: 8/29/1862; Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run

Charles Miller, Co. D: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

Corporal Leonard Shrishorn, Co. D: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

Corporal Israel Vancannon, Co. D: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

Mattis Bailey, Co. D: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

Cpl. William Mackey/McKay, Co. E: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

Michael Brennan, Co. E: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

Hugh McFeely, Co. E: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

Samuel Moyer, Co. E: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

John Becker/Baker, Co. E: Missing and Presumed Dead at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

John Haggerty, Co. F: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

Michael Kilrain, Co. F: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

Peter Quinn, Co. F: Supposed to have been Killed at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

Thomas Kelley, Co. H: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

William Nagle, Co. H: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862.

Samuel Petit, Co. H: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

Charles F. Leiser, Co. I: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

Hesgian Link, Co. I: Missing in Action at 2nd Bull Run; Supposed to have died

Captain Henry A.M. Filber, Co. K: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

Sergeant Roland D. Filbert, Co. K: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

David Boyer, Co. K: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

David D. Dress, Co. K: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

W. Fenstermacher, Co. K: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

William Labenberger, Co. K: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

Daniel Shanley/Stanley, Co. K: Killed in Action at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862

James Muldowney, Co. G: Mortally Wounded 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862; Died of Wounds       

William Hopkins, Co. F: Mortally Wounded at 2nd Bull Run; Died: 8/31/1862 of wounds

George Ramer, Co. A: Died in Georgetown, 9/6/1862

Charles Knerr, Co. H: Died 9/7/1862

Corporal George Ramer, Co. D: Mortally Wounded at 2nd Bull Run; Died of Wounds, 9/6/1862

Sergeant William Bambrick, Co. D: Mortally Wounded at 2nd Bull Run; Died of Wounds, 9/12/1862

William Smith, Co. G: Mortally Wounded 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862; Died of Wounds, 9/14/1862        

Henry Jenkins, Co. F: Mortally Wounded at 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862; died in Georgetown, DC, 9/15/1862

Cpl. John Brobst, Co. A: Mortally Wounded at Antietam, 9/17/1862.

John Robinson, Co. B: Killed in Action at Antietam, 9/17/1862

Alexander Prince, Co. B: Killed in Action at Antietam, 9/18/1862

Alva F. Jeffries, Co. D: Killed in Action at Antietam, 9/17/1862

1st Lieutenant William Cullen, Co. E: Killed in Action at Antietam, 9/17/1862

John Broadbent, Co. E: Killed in Action at Antietam, 9/17/1862

Charles Timmons, Co. G: Killed in Action, Antietam 9/17/1862          

Cpl. Lewis V. Focht, Co. I: Killed in Action at Antietam, 9/17/1862

Corporal Daniel Moser, Co. K: Killed in Action at Antietam, 9/17/1862

George Dentzer, Co. L: Killed in Action at Antietam, 9/17/1862

David Stichter, Co. D: Died in Hospital at Sharpsburg, MD, 9/21/1862

James Farrell, Co. E: Mortally Wounded at 2nd Bull Run; Died: 9/25/1862

Benjamin Hoffman, Co. I: Wounded at South Mountain, 9/14/1862; Died of Wounds 9/25/1862;

John Martin/Morton, Co. E: Died 9/25/1862

John Springer, Co. A: Died: 10/9/1862 from Wounds Received in Action.

John Sullivan, Co. D: Mortally Wounded at 2nd Bull Run; Died of Wounds, 10/8/1862

Cpl. Albert T. Frazier, Co. C: Died 10/14/1862 of Consumption in Alexandria, VA

Sgt. Benjamin G. Otto, Co. A: Wounded in Action; Died of Wounds: 10/15/1862

James Winters, Co. K: Died 10/15/1862 at Fortress Monroe, VA

Peter Boyer, Co. K: Died in 10/22/1862 in Cressona, PA

John J. Morrison, Co. F: Mortally Wounded at 2nd Bull Run; Died 10/23/1862

Corporal Patrick Handley, Co. K: Died 10/25/1862 in Washington, D.C.

Joseph Low, Co. C: Died 10/29/1862 in Alexandria of Wounds Received in Action

Thomas Major, Co. E: Mortally Wounded at 2nd Bull Run; Died: 10/31/1862

Edward Daniels, Co. C: Died 11/1/1862 of Chronic Diarrhea in Alexandria

John Farne, Co. G: Mortally Wounded 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862; Died of Wounds 11/8/1862              

Edward McCabe, Co. G: Died of Disease, Washington, D.C., 11/12/1862

Peter Burke, Co. K: Died of Typhoid Fever, 11/14/1862

Corporal Charles C. Hinkle, Co. H: Died 11/23/1862, at Hatteras, North Carolina

Corporal Raymond A. Jenkins, Co. H: Died 12/8/1862 in Ascension Hospital, Washington

J.W. Heebner/Heevener, Co. D: Died of chronic diarrhea, 12/9/1862

Elijah Knight, Co. E: Died in Annapolis, 12/12/1862

John Ruff, Co. A: Died in Washington: 12/13/1862

James Williams, Co. A: Killed in Action at Fredericksburg: 12/13/1862

Cpl. Joseph B. Carter, Co. A: Mortally Wounded at Fredericksburg, 12/13/1862.

Michael Divine, Co. B: Killed in Action at Fredericksburg, VA, 12/13/1862

John Williams, Co. B: Killed in Action at Fredericksburg, VA, 12/13/1862

William Hill, Co. B: Killed in Action at Fredericksburg, VA, 12/13/1862

Cpl. Reuben Robinson, Co. B: Killed in Action at Fredericksburg, VA, 12/13/1862

Henry Williamson, Co. D: Killed in Action at Fredericksburg, 12/13/1862

Thomas Kinney, Co. D: Killed in Action at Fredericksburg, 12/13/1862

Thomas Connell, Co. B: Died of Disease, 12/18/1862

Musician Abraham Wadsworth, Co. B: Died: 12/18/1862 in Port Carbon, PA

Henry Burnish, Co. G: Died in Pottsville, 12/20/1862, of chronic diarrhea        

Cpl. Edward F. Schappell, Co. I: Wounded at Fredericksburg, 12/13/1862; Died in hospital of wounds, Date -Unknown

1863 (17)

Corporal John H. Derr, Co. D : Mortally Wounded at Fredericksburg; Died of Wounds in Washington, 1/2/1863

George Briggle, Co. A: Died in Philadelphia: 1/4/1863.

Nicholas Shitehour, Co. B: Died 1/13/1863 in Washington, D.C. of chronic diarrhea

James Bergan, Co. E: Mortally Wounded at 2nd Bull Run; Died: 1/11/1863

Samuel Brooks, Co. B: Died 1/13/1863 near Falmouth, Virginia

Levi Fisher, Co. I: In Hospital at Harpers Ferry, 8/16/1862; Died, 1/21/1863

George Shertle, Co. D: Died of Disease 2/8/1863 in Washington, D.C.

Sgt. Arthur P. Hatch, Co. C: 2/13/1863; Died in Newport News of heart disease

Jacob H. Rumble, Co. I: Died: 4/14/1863

Jacob Smith, Co. C: 5/3/1863; Died of diarrhea in Baltimore, MD

Andrew Scott, Co. C: 6/27/1863; Killed in Lexington, KY

Valentine Raush, Co. G: Drowned 6/11 or 12/1863   

Corporal Joseph Reed, Co. H: Killed 11/16/1863 at Campbell’s Station, TN.

Joseph Weise, Co. H: Died in Knoxville, TN, 11/21/1863

John Sponslor/Sponsler, Co. H: Killed 11/29/1863 at Knoxville, TN

Jonas Haldeman, Co. I: Killed in Action, Knoxville, TN, 11/29/1863

Cpl. Charles Weaver, Co. I: Died 12/5/1863 in Knoxville, TN, of wounds received 12/3/1863

Josiah Kramer, Co. I: Died: December 1863

1864 (157)

Thomas J. Thomas, Co. F: Died of Typhoid Fever, 1/22/1864

Patrick Brown, Co. F: Killed in a railroad accident, 1/24/1864, Paris, Kentucky

George Livingston, Co. A: Captured; Died in Libby Prison, Richmond, VA, 2/4/1864

James Shields, Co. E: Murdered in Silver Creek, 2/26/1864

James W. Evans, Co. F: Died in Hospital, 3/2/1864

John Burnhart, Co. B: Died 3/8/1864; Buried in Knoxville, Tennessee

Isaac Arndt, Co. I: Wounded Severely in hip; left on field at Campbell's Station; and Missing in Action, 11/16/1863; Captured, Held Prisoner of War at Andersonville; Not on Muster Out Roll; PA Civil War Service Cards Lists Him As Having Died 3/16/1863 (1864?) at Canard Station, Tennessee.

John Dietrich, Co. D: Died 3/22/1864

Michael Wilson, Co. F: Died of "nostalgia, or home-sickness," or of chronic diarrhea, 3/24/1864, at Annapolis, MD.

William Phillips, Co. G: Died 3/26/1864 in Pottsville

Reuben Watt, Co. I: Died March 31, 1864, Annapolis, MD

Thomas S. Lewis, Co. H: Died 3/31/1864 at Philadelphia

Charles Clark, Co. G: Died: 4/6/1864 in Annapolis, Maryland

William H. Smith, Co. D: Died in Annapolis, 4/7/1864

Peter Litchfield, Co. F: Died 4/9/1864, Annapolis, Maryland

Peter Zimmerman, Co. A: Died: 4/11/1864 in Annapolis, Maryland.

John Donnelly, Co. H: Died 4/20/1864 at Annapolis, Maryland

Edward Edwards, Co. H: Died of sunstroke, 4/23/1864 at Annapolis, Maryland

Lewis J. Garber, Co. I: Died 4/23/1864, Annapolis, Maryland

Valentine Frantz, Co. E: Committed Suicide, 4/28/1864

Charles DeLong, Co. H: Died 5/4/1864 at Bristoe Station

Jno. Burke, Co. E: Killed in Action at the Wilderness, 5/5/1864

Lawrence Farrell, Co. E: Killed in Action at the Wilderness, 5/6/1864

Jonathan Kauffman, Co. D: Killed in Action at the Wilderness, 5/6/1864

David F. Thiel, Co. F: Killed in Action at the Wilderness, 5/6/1864

Simon Moyer, Co. B: Killed in Action at the Wilderness, 5/7/1864

Israel Manning, Co. F: Wounded at the Wilderness, 5/6/1864; Died of Wounds 5/8/1864

Jno. T. Huntzinger, Co. A: Killed in Action at Spotsylvania: 5/12/1864

Isaac Otto, Co. A: Killed in Action at Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864.

Lewis M. Robinhold, Co. A: Killed in Action at Spotsylvania: 5/12/1864

Charles A.T. St. Clair, Co. A: Killed in Action at Spotsylvania: 5/12/1864

John Deitz, Co. B: Killed in Action at Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864

Frederick Knittle, Co. B: Killed in Action at Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864

Matthew Hume, Co. B: Killed in Action at Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864

Cpl. David J. Davis, Co. B: Killed in Action at Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864

Daniel Wary, Co. B: Killed in Action at Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864

Laurentus C. Moyer, Co. B: Killed in Action at Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864

John Morrissey, Co. F: Killed in Action at Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864

Richard Williams, Co. F: Killed in Action at Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864

Lewis Woods, Co. F: Killed in Action at Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864

Jno. Powell, Co. F: Mortally Wounded at Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864; Died of Wounds

James Brennan, Co. F: Died of wounds received at Spotsylvania; Date Unknown

2nd Lt. Henry C. Jackson, Co. G: Killed in Action Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864      

William Williams, Co. G: Killed in Action Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864      

Henry J. Ege, Co. I: Killed in Action, 5/12/1864, Spotsylvania, Virginia

Jno. W. Henn, Co. K: Killed in Action at Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864

Daniel Brown, Co. C: 5/12/1864; Killed in Action at Spotsylvania

Michael Mohan, Co. C: 5/20/1864; Died in Washington of wounds received at Spotsylvania

Sgt. William Kissinger, Co. B: Wounded at Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864; Died of Wounds, 5/24/1864

Joseph Chester, Co. H: Wounded: 5/15/1864; Died: 5/24/1864 of wounds received in battle

Frederick Henry, Co. I: Wounded in Action, 5/25/1864; Supposed to have died from wounds in ambulance and buried by the wayside

Corporal Charles Norrigan/Norrigang, Co. H: Killed in Action at North Anna Crossing, 5/26/1864

Patrick Doolin, Co. F: Killed in Action at Bethesda Church, 5/30/1864

Henry McCann, Co. F: Killed in Action at Armstrong Farm, 5/31/1864

Lieutenant Samuel B. Laubenstein, Co. H: Killed at Shady Grove Church, 5/31/1864

James Spencer, Co. G: Mortally Wounded Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864; Died of Wounds 5/31/1864

John Cochran, Co. A: Died: 6/1864 near Cold Harbor, VA.

David Williams, Co. E: Killed in Action at Cold Harbor, 6/3/1864

James Bradley, Co. F: Killed in Action at Cold Harbor, 6/3/1864

Edward G. Pugh, Co. F: Killed in Action at Cold Harbor , 6/3/1864

William Smith, Co. F: Killed in Action at Cold Harbor, 6/3/1864

Cpl. Alexander Govan, Co. G: Killed in Action Cold Harbor, 6/3/1864

James Allison, Co. G: Killed in Action Cold Harbor, 6/3/1864

Joseph Alexander, Co. H: Killed in Action at Cold Harbor, 6/3/1864

George Dresh, Co. I: Killed in Action, 6/3/1864, Cold Harbor

William J. Price, Co. I: Killed at Cold Harbor, 6/3/1864

Benjamin B. Kershner, Co. I: Killed in Action at Cold Harbor, 6/3/1864

Jacob Lauby/Landy, Co. K: Killed in Action at Cold Harbor, 6/3/1864

Daniel Reedy, Co. E: Mortally Wounded at Cold Harbor; Died: 6/6/1864

John Clark, Co. I: Wounded Cold Harbor, 6/3/1864; Died of Wounds 6/8/1864

Major Joseph A. Gilmour: Mortally Wounded in Action, 5/31/1864; Died of Wounds 6/9/1864

Anthony Wade, Co. E: Mortally Wounded at Cold Harbor; Died: 6/9/1864

Christian Lauer, Co. B: Died 6/10/1864, of wounds received in action

Samuel Heckman, Co. B: Died 6/12/1864, of wounds received in action

George Airgood, Co. A: Wounded at Petersburg; Died of Wounds

Simon Snyder, Co. A: Died: 6/16/1864 of Wounds Received in Action

Simon Devlin, Co. F: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 6/16/1864

Nathan Rich, Co. K: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 6/16/1864

Andrew Wesner, Co. F: Died 6/17/1864

George Betz, Co. A: Mortally Wounded at Petersburg, 6/17/1864

John Major, Co. E: Killed at Petersburg, 6/17/1864

Isaac Lewis, Co. F: Killed in Action at Petersburg 6/17/1864

Horace Straub, Co. F: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 6/17/1864

Anthony Gallagher, Co. H: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 6/17/1864

Jeff. W. Beyerley, Co. H: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 6/17/1864

George W. Morey, Co. H: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 6/17/1864

James Mulholland, Co. H: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 6/17/1864

Arthur Gray, Co. K: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 6/18/1864

Thomas Davis, Co. H: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 6/18/1864

Ephraim Whetstone, Co. K: Died June 1864 from wounds received in action

Daniel Okum, Co. D: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 6/21/1864

Lewis Hessinger, Co. A: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 6/22/1864

William Evans, Co. E: Died of Chronic Diarrhea, 6/22/1864

Jeremiah Willoner/Willouer, Co. I: Wounded, severely, Cold Harbor, 6/3/1864; Died of Wounds 6/22/1864

James Boner, Co. I: Wounded 5/30/1864; Died of Wounds 6/22/1864

Abraham Gecker, Co. C: 6/23/1864; Killed in Action at Petersburg

John Whitaker, Co. C: 6/23/1864; Killed in Action at Petersburg

1st Lt. Curtis C. Pollock, Co. G: Mortally Wounded Petersburg 6/17/1864; Died of wounds: 6/23/1864

William Reysons/Rasons, Co. E: Mortally Wounded at Petersburg, 6/17/1864; Died: 6/24/1864

William Schwartz, Co. B: Died 6/26/1864

Daniel J. Kehl, Co. I: Died June 26, 1864, City Point, VA

William Simpson, Co. G: Killed in Action Petersburg 6/26/1864

Lt. William H. Hume, Co. B: Mortally Wounded in Action, 5/31/1864 at Totopotomy Creek, VA; Died of -Wounds, 6/30/1864

James Reagan, Co. E: Mortally Wounded at Petersburg, 6/17/1864; Died: 6/30/1864

Jonas Z. Raber, Co. D: Died 7/1/1864 in Washington, D.C.

John Armstrong, Co. G: Mortally Wounded Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864; Died of Wounds 7/1/1864

1st Lt. Joseph Edwards, Co. I: Wounded at Petersburg, 6/17/1864; Died of Wounds 7/2/1864

Job Hirst, Co. H: Wounded at Cold Harbor, 6/3/1864; Died 7/3/1864 of wounds received in action

David Houser, Co. A: Died: 7/4/1864

Henry Dorward, Co. D: Killed in Action near Petersburg, 7/5/1864

Nelson Simon, Co. A: Died in Minersville: 7/5/1864.

James McElrath, Co. C: 7/7/1864; Died from chronic diarrhea in Andersonville Prison

Sgt. Thomas Tosh, Co. E: Mortally Wounded at Cold Harbor; Died of Wounds: 7/7/1864

Francis M. Stidham, Co. A: Died 7/10/1864 of Wounds Received in Action

J. Howard Jones, Co. G: Mortally Wounded Petersburg, 6/17/1864; Died of Wounds: 7/13/1864

Isaac Bannon/Brannan, Co. H: Killed 7/16/1864 in US General Hospital at Alexandria, VA.

Charles Quinn, Co. E: Mortally Wounded at Petersburg, 6/17/1864; Died: 7/24/1864

Lewis Beableheimer, Co. I : Wounded at Petersburg 7/24/1864; Died of Wounds, 7/26/1864

Captain Benjamin B. Schuck, Co. I: Wounded at Petersburg, 6/25/1864; Died of Wounds, 7/27/1864; 

Lieutenant David B. Brown, Co. H: Killed at Petersburg, 8/5/1864

Elias Zimmerman, Co. D: Died in Fairfax Seminary Hospital, 8/5/1864

Isaac K. Beltz, Co. I: Wounded Cold Harbor 6/3/1864; Died of Wounds 8/10/1864

Solomon Eyster, Co. D: Died 8/15/1864 in Philadelphia

Edward Sweeney, Co. C: 8/17/1864; Died in Mount Douglass General Hospital

Frank Boyer, Co. E: Captured at Cold Harbor; Died at Andersonville Prison, 8/17/1864

Frank Queeny, Co. F: Died of Dropsy, 8/21/1864

Richard Lee, Co. A: Died in Pottsville, 8/21/1864

Edward Gallagher, Co. A: Captured; Died in Andersonville Prison, 8/21/1864 from diarrhea

Daniel Neyer, Co. I: Died at City Point, Virginia, 8/22/1864

William Davis, Co. H: Wounded at Cold Harbor, VA, 6/3/1864; Died of Wounds: 9/5/1864 

Henry Reb, Co. H: Died of Paralysis 9/5/1864 on David's Island, New York

Isaac Fetterman/Fetter, Co. H: Captured; Died in Andersonville Prison, 9/8/1864, from diarrhea

George Lawrence, Co. G: Died 9/11/1864 at Port Carbon, PA

William Engle, Co. B: Died at Willet's Point, New York, 9/11 or 12/1864

William Schneider, Co. H: Died 9/12/1864, of wounds received in action

Daniel Root, Co. B: Died in Andersonville Prison, 9/14/1864, from diarrhea

Patrick Farrell, Co. C: 9/21/1864; Died in Washington

John Darragh, Co. E: Killed in Action at Poplar Grove/Peebles’s Farm, 9/30/1864

James Heiser, Co. I: Killed in Action, 9/30/1864, Pegram's Farm/Poplar Springs Church

Lewis W. Kopp, Co. H: Died of Phthsis Pulmonalis 10/1/1864

Joseph Cobus, Co. I: Wounded and Captured Pegram's Farm, 9/30/1864; Died of Wounds, 10/4/1864

Daniel Boyer, Co. E: Killed at Petersburg, 10/5/1864

Daniel M. Bankes, Co. B: Died at Annapolis, MD, 10/6/1864

Jno. Lloyd, Co. H: Wounded 8/9/1864; Died 10/25/1864 at his home in Schuylkill County.

David Miller, Co. F: Wounded at Pegram's Farm; Died in Annapolis, 11/6/1864

Jacob Hammer, Co. B: Died in Salisbury Prison, NC, 11/12/1864

Edward McGinnis, Co. E: Captured at Peebles’s Farm; Died in Salisbury Prison, 11/17/1864

Patrick Crowe, Co. I: Captured Pegram's Farm, 9/30/1864; Died in Salisbury Prison, N.C., 11/19/1864

Lewis Douglass, Co. I: Died: 11/22/1864

Philip Heffron, Co. H: Captured at Pegram's Farm, 9/30/1864; Died of starvation in Salisbury Prison, 11/25/1864

Michael Condron, Co. C: 11/29/1864; Died in Salisbury Prison, NC

Emmanuel Fox, Co. H: Died 12/5/1864 at Baptist Church Hospital, Alexandria, VA.

George Hartz, Co. D: Died of Wounds Received in Action at Petersburg, 12/20/1864

Corporal John F. Dentzer, Co. K: Killed at Petersburg, 12/28/1864

Robert Devine, Co. E: Died of Chronic Diarrhea, 12/28/1864

Elijah DeFrehn, Co. F: Captured at Pegram's Farm, 9/30/1864; Died 12/30/1864 in Salisbury Prison, North Carolina

1865 (41) 

Jacob Wigner/Wagner, Co. B: Died 1/1/1865;

Cpl. William Livingston, Co. C: 1/2/1865; KIA at Fort Sedgwick

Abraham Sigmund, Co. E: Killed at Petersburg, 1/7/1865

William D. Lloyd, Co. H: Died 1/10/1865 at Lincoln Hospital, Washington, D.C.

Andrew Neeley, Co. C: 1/12/1865; Died in Washington of chronic diarrhea 

Samuel Schollenberger, Co. A: Captured; Died in Salisbury Prison, Salisbury, North Carolina: 1/16/1865.

Joseph Finley/Findley, Co. F: Captured at Pegram's Farm, 9/30/1864; Died in Salisbury Prison, 1/22/1865

Michael Welsh, Co. F: Captured 9/30/1864 at Pegram's Farm; Died in Salisbury Prison, 2/6/1865

Charles Aurand, Co. H: Died: 2/9/1865

William Fulton, Co. F: Captured at Pegram's Farm, 9/30/1864; Died in Salisbury Prison, 2/12/1865

Corporal Philip Beckman, Co. D: Died in Baltimore of chronic diarrhea, 2/9/1865

Charles Dintinger, Co. C: 2/11/1865; Died in Salisbury Prison, 11/1864

George T. Eisenhuth, Co. H: Died of Chronic Diarrhea 2/17/1865

Nicholas Delaney, Co. K: Killed at Petersburg, 2/23/1865

Nicholas Gross: Died of Chronic Diarrhea, 3/12/1865, Annapolis, Maryland

Cpl. Patrick Rogers, Co. E: Died of Disease, 3/25/1865

1st Lieutenant Henry Graeff, Co. D: Died in Pottsville, 3/26/1865, of Disease Contracted in Confederate Prisons.

Gilbert Graham, Co. C: 4/1/1865; Died of Wounds

William Jenkins, Co. F: Died: 4/1/1865

Sgt. John Homer, Co. B: Died, 4/2/1865, of wounds received in action on 4/1/1865

Colonel George W. Gowen: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 4/2/1865.

John Coutts, Co. B: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 4/2/1865

Daniel D. Barnett, Co. E: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 4/2/1865

David McElvie, Co. F: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 4/2/1865

William Donnelly, Co. H: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 4/2/1865

James King, Co. H: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 4/2/1865

George Uhl, Co. H: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 4/2/1865

Albert Mack, Co. I: Killed at Petersburg, 4/2/1865

Jacob Reichwein, Co. I :Killed at Petersburg, 4/2/1865

Albert Zimmerman, Co. I: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 4/2/1865

Wesley Boyer, Co. I: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 4/2/1865.

Simon Hoffman, Co. K: Killed in Action at Petersburg, 4/2/1865

Lewis Sterner, Co. A: Died: 4/11/1865; Buried: Odd Fellows’ Cemetery, Tamaqua, PA

Aaron P. Wagner, Co. D: Mortally Wounded at Petersburg, 4/2/1865; Died of Wounds 4/15/1865 in Washington, D.C.

Nicholas C. Stephens, Co. B: Died 4/20/1865, of wounds received at Petersburg 4/2/1865

Cpl. James Nicholson, Co. C: Died: 4/24/1865 of Wounds Received at Petersburg, 4/2/1865

James Mercer, Co. E: Mortally Wounded at Petersburg, 6/17/1864; Died: 5/21/1865

John Frehn, Co. B: Died in Philadelphia, 6/8/1865; Veteran

Jonathan Dress, Co. K: Died 7/5/1865 in Philadelphia, PA

Corporal Walter P. Aims/Amos, Co. D: Died 7/12/1865 from the effects of starvation and brutality while in Confederate prison 

Charles F. Hesser, Co. D: Died 7/25/1865 in Washington, D.C.

Unknown (7) 

William Moose, Co. E: Wounded at 2nd Bull Run; Died at Home, Date Unknown

Henry Simpson, Co. A: Killed in Battle. 

Sgt. Stafford Johnson, Co. E: Died at Home, Date Unknown

William Atkins, Co. B: Died at home, while on furlough; Date Unknown
Cpl. James Brennan, Co. E: Captured at Knoxville, Died at Andersonville Prison, Date Unknown
William H. Kohler, Co. F: Captured at Pegram's Farm, 9/30/1864; Died in Salisbury Prison

Joshua Reed, Co. G: Captured 9/30/1864 at Pegram's Farm; Held in Salisbury Prison; Died at home from effects of prison confinement.             

Henry Clay Jackson

Lieutenant~Company G

[Courtesy of Mr. Ronn Palm and the Museum of Civil War Images] 

Daniel Barnett

Company E 

[Hoptak Collection]

George Betz

Company A

[Hoptak Collection] 

David Brown

Lieutenant~Company H

[Unknown] 

Michael Condron

Company C

[Hoptak Collection] 

William Cullen

Lieutenant~Company E

[Courtesy of Catherine Siegel and Family] 

George Dentzer

Company K

[Courtesy of the Dentzer Family] 

John Dentzer

Company K

[Courtesy of the Dentzer Family] 

James Allison

Company G

[The Historical Society of Schuylkill County] 

Benjamin B. Schuck

Captain~Company I

[Courtesy of Mr. Ronn Palm and the Museum of Civil War Images] 

Joseph Edwards

Lieutenant~Company I

[Hoptak Collection] 

Henry J. Ege

Company I

[Courtesy of Mr. Ronn Palm and the Museum of Civil War Images]

(War In Human Form)

Joseph Gilmour

Major~48th Pennsylvania

[Hoptak Collection] 

(Totopotomy Creek)

Alexander Govan

Company G

[From Gould, The Forty Eighth]

George Gowen

Colonel~48th Pennsylvania

[From Bosbyshell, The Story of the Forty-Eighth]

William B. Hume

Lieutenant~Company B

[Hoptak Collection] 

Richard Jenkins 

Company F

[Courtesy of Mr. Richard Hammons and Mr. Richard Jenkins] 

Samuel Laubenstein

Lieutenant~Company I

[Courtesy of schulkillhavenhistory.com] 

Thomas Major

Company E

[Courtesy of Mr. Brett Adams] 

Charles Norrigan

Corporal~Company H

[Courtesy of Mr. Ronn Palm and the Museum of Civil War Images] 

Curtis Clay Pollock

Lieutenant~Company G

[Courtesy of Mr. Ronn Palm and the Museum of Civil War Images] 

Charles Abel T. St. Clair

Company A

[Hoptak Collection] 

Francis Stidham

Company A

[Hoptak Collection] 

George Hartz

Company D

[Patriotic Order Sons of America] 

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

Eight from the Forty-Eighth. . .

I remember well when I first read about it; it was quite some time ago, back when I was in high school during one of my many trips to the Pottsville Free Public Library. I would head up there often to read the regimental history of the 48th Pennsylvania--the one compiled by Joseph Gould. I would also take up a few yellow legal pads of paper and a few sharpened pencils to take notes on the regiment's actions, campaigns, and so on, but mainly to transcribed the company rosters. With each name I wrote, with each notation about their date of enlistment, or date of promotion, or where they were wounded or killed or captured, or even just what their age was when they enlisted, it somehow felt as though I was becoming personally acquainted with those who served in the 48th. Yet nothing would make me feel more acquainted with these long gone soldiers then when I would see one of their photographs. At that time, though, aside from just the handful of mainly officers' images in Gould's regimental history and a few other images at the Historical Society of Schuylkill County, I had not seen all that many photographs of the more 1,800 soldiers who served in 48th PA. That is why a very brief passage on page 58 of Gould's regimental history has always stuck out to me, from the very first time I read it, all those many years ago. 

On Page 58 there is a photograph of Captain Philip Nagle, who in the summer of 1861 helped to organize and later commanded Company G, 48th Pennsylvania, a company recruited primarily from Pottsville and nearby St. Clair. Philip was one of the five "Fighting Nagle" brothers in the 48th; his oldest brother James organized the regiment, while brother Daniel served as captain, Company D, and later regimental major, while brothers Levi and Abraham were musicians who served in the regimental band. Above the photograph is the heading: "Captain Nagle Resigns" but it was the text that followed was what really grabbed my attention. "When in consequence of ill health, Captain Philip Nagle, of Company G, 48th Regiment P.V. resigned in 1862, the members of his company presented at Newbern, N.C. June 9th, their portraits, numbering ninety-one, to him, handsomely framed." [emphasis added] 

Ninety-one images of the soldiers of Company G, 48th PA.

Ninety-one. . . .

Ninety-one!

That was, essentially, the entire company. I wondered how amazing it would be to one day see those images. When the soldiers of Company G sat for these images as a goodbye gift to their captain in the spring of 1862, the 48th had been in the service about nine months and, except for some minor action along the shores of North Carolina, the regiment had yet to be engaged in any serious, major combat. There was something innocent, then, if you will, in those images. . .in knowing that at the time these photographs were taken, none in the company--none, in fact, in the entire regiment--could have possibly known the horrors and hardships that lay ahead, at 2nd Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and on so many other sanguinary fields. Indeed, when the soldiers of Company G sat for these photographs in early June 1862, the rumors then circulating through their camp in Newbern was that McClellan would soon capture Richmond, that the war would end soon after that, and that they would likely all be home by the Fourth of July. 

I wondered whatever had become of the images; where were they? I actually knew a descendant of Captain Philip Nagle and I asked her if she ever recalled seeing the images and she said no. So, all I could do was wonder whatever had become of all those portraits, "handsomely framed." 

Years went by until, finally, in late 2003 my question was partially answered when I happened upon Volume XXV,  Number 3 of Military Images magazine. Amazingly, on the cover were forty-two framed tin-type images and the caption read, "The Men of Company G." I turned quickly to the cover story and noticed it was authored by renowned collector Norm Flayderman. Forty-two tin-type images, all framed, had been a part of his collection he wrote, "for many years." All the images show the soldiers seated at the same marble table, upon which is a kepi and the letter "G" and number "48" on the chin strap of that kepi (likely the same kepi used in all the photographs). Mr. Flayderman wrote that there was nothing on the tintypes that identified these soldiers as Pennsylvanians but that he had acquired them "from a credible source" who had told him they were all Company G, 48th Pennsylvania images. I could verify that, since I was able to positively identify one of the corporals as Curtis Clay Pollock of the 48th PA So here were 42 of those 91 portraits, about half of all those presented to Captain Philip Nagle in 1862. It was an incredible 'discovery' for me, if you will...having waited so long to see these portraits.  I wrote to Mr. Flayderman and he very kindly and quickly wrote back, enclosing a number of photocopies of the images. In early 2006, he wrote to let me know that he was selling these tintypes and that they would be auctioned. That auction took place and I certainly kept my eye on it....but the price they went for was well-above anything I could have bid. 

These 42 images of Company G, 48th PA soldiers from the collection of the now late Norm Flayderman were not the only ones to have surfaced. A gentleman named Jim Jezorski had also read Flayderman's short article in Military Images and he was genuinely surprised by what he read since, in his own collection of Civil War images, he had eight of the same type of image, with soldiers seated next to that marble table, with the kepi with the "G" and "48" on its chinstrap. He wrote a follow-up article for Military Images and explained that he had acquired the eight in his collection from "an old collector" who had told him that he had originally purchased them at a gun show in central Pennsylvania. "There were dozens of them," said the old collector, but he could only afford those eight. The "old collector" had also told Jezorski that he individual who sold them to him "had personally took them off the wall of a G.A.R. hall in small town near Hershey, Pennsylvania." 

Just this past week, I had the great pleasure of meeting Jim Jezorski, who told me about the history of these eight tintype images (how that "old collector" purchased them many decades ago and they were--get this--just a dollar a piece; turns out that that 'old collector' only had eight dollars that day, which was why he could only afford those eight!) Jezorski had previously asked if I would be interested in acquiring from him, those eight images. . . 

Interested?? 

Absolutely, I said.  

Those eight images follow, all depicting soldiers of Company G, 48th Pennsylvania, all taken at the same time, in early June 1862. . . .where all of the other ones are, including those 42 that went up for auction in 2006, I do not know and thus cannot say. Though it would be an amazing thing if someday, somehow, all 91 can be brought back together again.

And it would be great, too, if, somehow these--and all the others from this collection--could one day all be positively identified. Who were these men? Did they make it through the war? What were their stories?

Maybe one day we will find out. . . 

Unidentified Corporal, Company G, 48th PA 

Unidentified Private, Company G, 48th PA 

Unidentified Sergeant, Company G, 48th PA 

Unidentified Private, Company G 48th PA 

Unidentified Private, Company G 48th PA

Unidentified Private, Company G 48th PA

Unidentified Private, Company G 48th PA

Unidentified Private, Company G 48th PA

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

Military Images 

Vol. XXV, Number 3, November/December 2003

Featuring 42 Tintype Images of 

Company G, 48th PA Soldiers 

A "New" Face of the 48th: William Wainwright Potts, Captain, Company D

Sometimes many months will pass, sometimes even a year or more, before I happen upon, discover, stumble over, locate, or be sent or directed to a "new" image of a 48th Pennsylvania soldier--or at least one I have never seen before--but lately, well, a number have been revealed; indeed, a relatively good number over the past year or so. Some have been identified, such as Lt. Michael Kistler,  Private James Dempsey, and Private Henry Jenkins. Others, unidentified. It is always a great thrill for me, having studied this regiment for so long--having pored over the rosters and muster rolls so many, many times--to see a "new" face from the regiment, to go along with name. As I have written many times before, this is not a very common thing, or at least not as common as one may suppose or assume. Indeed, after more than twenty years of actively seeking images of 48th Pennsylvania soldiers, I have located approximately 200. That's 200 out of the 1,860 men who served in the unit, or just 11%. Well, just a few days ago, Mr. Bill Clark very kindly shared with me via this blog his ancestral/family genealogy page, which includes biographical data and even an image of his 48th PA ancestor, Captain W.W. Potts, of Company D. 

Captain William W. Potts
Company D, 48th PA 

[Courtesy of Mr. Bill Clark] 

William Wainwright Potts was born on June 10, 1831, in Columbus, Burlington County, New Jersey, the second child and first son born to Aaron and Rebecca Potts. Sometime when William, presumably, was still young, the family relocated to Schuylkill County, settling in Pottsville, where Aaron and Rebecca would continue to raise their family, which will grow to include three more children, two girls and another boy, Charles Potts, who, like his older brother William would serve in the Civil War.

On May 5, 1853, William Wainwright Potts, not quite twenty-two years of age, married Mary Jane Welch who, over the next 18 years would deliver eight children, though, sadly, four of them would not survive infancy or childhood. Mary Jane passed away at the young age of 37 in the spring of 1871, perhaps from complications from childbirth. Her remains were laid to rest in Pottsville's Presbyterian Cemetery. 

Although his occupation is recorded as a 'moulder,' or mold maker, in the regimental records of the 48th, his obituary noted that he was a well-known hotel keeper in the city, and an 1857 article in the Mining Record and Pottsville Emporium recorded a rather interesting tid-bit or anecdote relating to William Potts. Potts, as the article stated, was the proprietor of the White Horse Restaurant. Apparently in June of that year quite a remarkable thing happened--worthy of headlines in the local paper. "On last Wednesday evening about 10 minutes after 10 o'clock," the article recorded, "Mr. William Potts, proprietor of the White Horse Restaurant, opened an immense Absecum salt Oyster, containing forty-seven pearls, varying in size from a pin's head to a very large pea--also a miniature goose of gold, on which was inscribed, 'Buy your clothing at the store of Mr. David A. Smith, on Centre Street, Pottsville, Pa." 

With the outbreak of civil war in 1861, thirty-year-old William W. Potts offered his services and that summer was mustered in as 1st Lieutenant, Company D, 48th Pennsylvania Infantry. He stood rather tall, at 5'11" in height, had a "light" complexion, and dark eyes. Upon Daniel Nagle's elevation from captain of Company D to regimental major in November 1861, Potts was promoted to captain and served in that capacity until his discharge in January 1863. Potts was discharged due to a disability and it would seem he was not with the company for the final few months of 1862, since Lt. Curtis Pollock of Company G, would temporarily command Company D at the Battle of Fredericksburg. Potts was likely in poor health. 

Charles Potts, William's younger brother, served as a lieutenant in the nine-month 151st Pennsylvania Infantry--the "school teacher's regiment." On July 1, 1863, at the Battle of Gettysburg, during whitch the 151st suffered tremendously high casualties, Lt. Potts was captured. He spent the next fourteen months in captivity but survived the ordeal and returned home.  

Lieutenant Charles Potts, 151st Pennsylvania

[Courtesy of Mr. Bill Clark] 

After William's discharge from the 48th in January 1863, he returned to Pottsville. In 1873, two years after the death of Mary Jane, he remarried.  His second wife, Eliza Noble, gave birth to six more children, three of whom would die in childhood. Thus, of William Potts's fourteen children, seven would not live to maturity. With this and with the death of Mary Jane, tragedy certainly seemed to have shadowed William Wainwright Potts. 

William remained active in the community and in veteran's affairs, taking a leading role with the Grand Army of the Republic. He would die rather young, due to complications from diabetes, passing away at age 62 in January 1894. His remains were interred in Pottsville's Charles Baber Cemetery. 

My thanks go out to Mr. Bill Clark for so generously sharing your family ancestry with me, and for giving me the opportunity to see yet another face of the 48th. 

Full-Size Image of Captain Potts

[Courtesy of Mr. Bill Clark] 

William Pott's Grave

Charles Baber Cemetery, Pottsville, PA 

[www.findagrave.com] 

A New Face of the 48th? Help Identify Who This May Be!

Last week, Buck Zaidel, an acquaintance of mine who is a Civil War image collector and co-author of Heroes for All Time: Connecticut Civil War Soldiers Tell Their Stories, shared with me an image from his collection, purportedly of a 48th Pennsylvania soldier, or at least, as he said, that is how it was sold to him. Although there is no concrete identification of the soldier's identity either on or that came with the quarter plate image, I told Buck that "at first glance," this fella certainly "has the look" of a 48th PA soldier.

I think you will agree that it is a rather striking, somewhat unusual image. It shows a young soldier with a sturdy build who has the look of a fun-loving prankster, posing for a photographer, holding up a piece of hardtack, his camp cup, and a spoon with some kind of food (rice?), while his rifle and knapsack lie nearby, making it clear what he believed better depicted or illustrated a Civil War soldier's life.

But if this is, indeed, a 48th Pennsylvania soldier, then who can it be? 

Unidentified Soldier

[Courtesy of Mr. Buck Zaidel]

There are, of course, a good number of clues. Someone, at some point, tinted the image a bit, and used what appears to be a gold paint to highlight the soldier's hat brass, buckle, and initials on his knapsack. The '48' is clearly visible on his knapsack, as are the initials "W.M." We can also see a company; it looks at first glimpse like "Co. C," although, on closer inspection, it could very well be "Co. E," especially since the "C" in "Co." looks much different than the letter next to it. Another clue, perhaps, is on his right arm; there may be chevrons there, indicating the rank of corporal, or it may just be a fold in his uniform. But let's just go with the initials upon the knapsack. 

Examining the roster of the 48th, we find only one--just one--soldier in all of Company C who had the initials, "W.M." and that was Private William Miles who joined the regiment on January 25, 1865, at age 35, who stood 5'7" in height and who, promptly, deserted two months later, on March 28, 1865. It does not seem likely that the soldier in the photograph is Miles, since Miles was with the regiment for only two months and since the soldier in the image appears younger than 35, or at least that's how he appears to me.

So perhaps it does say "Co. E" on his knapsack. Let's look at who had the initials "W.M." within the ranks of Company E, 48th PA. . .

There were seven members of that company with these initials, and they were:

1. William McKay/Mackey: Date of Enlistment: 8/20/1861; Age at Enlistment: 30; Height: 5'4; Complexion: Dark; Eyes: Blue; Hair: Sandy; Occupation: Engineer; Residence: Schuylkill Co.; Notes: Killed in Action 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862.

2. William J. Morgan: Date of Enlistment: 8/20/1861; Age at Enlistment: 23; Height: 5'9; Complexion: Light; Eyes: Brown; Hair: Sandy; Occupation: Coal Miner; Residence: Schuylkill Co. ; Date of Discharge: 7/17/1865; Notes: Wounded at Spotsylvania, 5/12/1864; Wounded Petersburg, 4/2/1865; Veteran

3.William McElrath: Date of Enlistment: 2/7/1864; Age at Enlistment: 17; Height: 5'5; Complexion: Light; Eyes: Hazel; Hair: Light; Occupation: Laborer; Enlisted in Pottsville; Born: Schuylkill Co.; Date of Discharge: 2/6/1865; Notes: Wounded Petersburg, 9/11/1864; Arm Amputated; Discharged on Surgeon's Certificate. 

4. William Matthews: Date of Enlistment: 3/22/1864; Age at Enlistment: 23; Height: 5'7 ¾; Complexion: Light; Eyes: Grey; Hair: Sandy; Occupation: Waterman; Enlisted in Philadelphia; Born: Ireland; Notes: Deserted, 3/24/1864 in Philadelphia

5. William Moose: Date of Enlistment: 11/24/1861; Age at Enlistment: 26; Height: 5'6 ¾; Complexion: Light; Eyes: Brown; Hair: Chestnut; Occupation: Boatman; Residence: Schuylkill Co. ; Notes: Wounded 2nd Bull Run, 8/29/1862; Died in Pottsville

6.William Mullen (Sr.): Date of Enlistment: 2/25/1864; Age at Enlistment: 45; Enlisted in Pottsville; Born: Ireland; Date of Discharge: 2/15/1865; Notes: Discharged on Surgeon's Certificate

7. William Mullen (Jr.): Date of Enlistment: 3/26/1865; Age at Enlistment: 19; Height: 5'2 ½; Complexion: Light; Eyes: Grey; Hair: Dark; Occupation: Laborer; Enlisted in Pottsville; Born: Ireland; Date of Discharge: 7/17/1865; Born: 1847; Died: 3/13/1919; Philadelphia, PA; buried as William M. Crossen; buried Holy Cross Cemetery, Yeadon, Delaware County, PA 

From these seven possibilities, I feel confident we can strike at least two immediately from the list. William Matthews (who was with the regiment only two days and likely did not have the time nor the opportunity to pose for a photograph!), and William Mullen, Sr., who was 45 years of age at the time of his enlistment. 

This, then, leaves us with William McKay, William Morgan, William McElrath, William Moose, and William Mullen, Jr. But perhaps we can also strike Morgan from the list since the roster shows him as standing at 5'9" in height; taller, it would seem, than the soldier in the photograph. If we do eliminate Wm. Morgan from the list of possibilities, then we are left with four: McKay, McElrath, Moose, and Mullen, Jr. And this, of course, is predicated on the thought that the soldier in the photograph served in Company E. . .and in the 48th Pennsylvania. 

I would love to get your thoughts on this. . .Based on the descriptions alone, does the soldier in the photograph match any of the four? 

Personally, I cannot reach any definitive conclusion, only that it might be McKay, or that it might be McElrath, or Moose, or Mullen, Jr. And that is, of course, if this does show a Co. E, 48th PA soldier.

But please do let me know your thoughts; Buck and I would greatly appreciate any insight here! 

Finding Michael Kistler. . .

Thanks to my friend Brian Downey--the owner/administrator of the Antietam On The Web website, a great and vast trove of information on that incredibly important battle and its participants--I got to see yet another face of the 48th Pennsylvania for the very first time, that of Michael Kistler, a lieutenant in Company I. 

Lt. Michael Kistler and wife Catherine

[Unknown Attribution, ancestry.com] 

For me, the discovery began just this past Friday, when I published a post seeking help in identifying the image of an unidentified lieutenant in Company I, 48th Pennsylvania. As noted in that post, there were seven officers who served at different times throughout the war in that rank and capacity in Company I. I have images of five of those seven, leaving only two--George Gressang and Michael Kistler--neither of whom I had ever before seen a photograph of. Gressang drowned in August 1862, with the sinking of the West Point. Kistler was badly wounded one month later, during the battle of Antietam. Because of this Antietam connection, Brian Downey, in his research for his website, had already done some prior work researching Kistler. Along the way, Downey happened upon a wartime image of Michael Kistler and his wife, Catherine, posted at ancestry.com. There were other, post-war images of Kistler posted there as well. Unfortunately, that particular page had last been updated in 2012 and is no longer active, meaning Downey could not get the name nor the contact information of the individual who posted the images. But he did discover an engraving of Kistler, later in life, in the 1886 book History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe Counties, Pennsylvania by Alfred Mathews. That engraving matches the images of Kistler that were posted on ancestry, thus verifying the identity. And now, because of Downey's research I finally got to see yet another face of the 48th. Also, because these images of Kistler have been located, by process of elimination and because the unidentified officer in the image I posted about last Friday more closely matches the physical description of George Gressang in the regimental muster rolls, there is a very good chance that that officer is, indeed, Gressang...though I still cannot state with 100% certainty.  At least one other respondent to that post thinks the unidentified officer is Francis Koch, another image of whom can be found in that same post. 

One thing that is for certain, however, is that, finally, after all these years of studying the regiment, I at last have seen an image of Lieutenant Kistler. Much more important than this though is that I have been to discover so much more about his life. I had known Kistler primarily because of the savage, grievous nature of the wound he received at Antietam. The wound was so serious that his recovery seemed impossible; it was quite remarkable that he did survive. So remarkable, in fact, that a story about it was published in a number of newspapers, including the Boston Herald, which, on March 16, 1864, told the story of Kistler's injury and his recovery in an article entitled Remarkable Tenacity of Life.

That story, is posted here in its entirety: 

Remarkable Tenacity of Life: Lieut. M.M. Kistler, formerly of the 48th Pennsylvania Volunteers, who still survives, and is commanding a company in the Invalid Corps, was pronounced by the surgeons who examined him after the battle [of Antietam], as he lay among the dead--himself almost as dead apparently as they--mortally wounded, and he was passed by at the time, and the attention of the surgeons was devoted to others, for whom it was thought there might be a chance of recovery. The fortunes of the day seemed to vacillate in the balance as the massive columns surged back and forth, and for a time the field was in possession of the rebels; again our brave fellows drove back the rebel columns, and took the ground where our wounded were lying, weltering in their gore, and in the evening the brave and undaunted Lieutenant was carried from the field by our own men, and laid down in an old barn without blanket or overcoat. His clothes on his right side, from his shoulder down to his boot, being saturated with blood from his wound, were cold and stiff. It was at Antietam he was wounded, by a ball entering his right shoulder in a way to carry his epaulatte into the wound, and part of it with the ball entered the right lobe of the lungs. The wound was probed by no less than eight or nine surgeons, three or four at a time. They exceeded in extracting from the wound the wire, four or five inches in length, belonging to the shoulder strap, and all agreed there were fractured pieces of bone necessary to be extracted, but they neither removed them nor dressed the wound, considering the case a hopeless one. The Lieutenant alone believed his recovery a possible case. Thus he laid suffering in his gore until the sixth day when he received a change of clothing, and on the seventh day, with the assistance of his servant, he started, both feeble and faint, and reached his home. On the thirteenth day after receiving the wound, it was for the first time thoroughly dressed, by Dr. J.C. Schirner, of Tamaqua, Penn. Suppuration had by this time taken place, and he spit up a portion of the shoulder strap with the body matter. The ball still remains in the lungs too heavy to be raised by the efforts made in coughing, where an abscess is formed by the wound in the lung, and suppuration takes place, as it frequently does. He now usually enjoys a reasonable degree of health, with the exception of a few days each time that these inward gatherings take place.

This we regard as one of the most remarkable cases of recovery, from what would be regarded by all surgeons as a hopeless case, on record. When we contemplate a man with such a wound, lying for thirteen days without any efficient surgical or medical aid, and without any change of clothing for six days, and in the main cold and damp, without food or attention, we cannot but be struck with amazement at the wonderful recuperative powers of the system, in the case of the indomitable Lieut. Kistler. We would naturally suppose he must have suffered untold misery during those thirteen days, but he says he suffered but little, comparatively speaking. His sensibilities must have been instantly stunned. He is a living miracle to all who know his case. While a slight wound hurries many a strong man to an untimely grave, a strong constitution, a determined and indomitable spirit, and, may we not add, a kind Providence had lengthened out his days for further service in the cause of his country."

A strong constitution and a determined, indomitable spirit, indeed. 

I knew Kistler survived this horrific wound and that he later served in the Veterans Reserve Corps, or the so-called Invalid Corps. But that was it. I did not know anything further. I had assumed, quite naturally, that his life might have ended early, as a result of the Antietam wound but, as I just discovered, it turns out Kistler still had many, many years remaining after the Civil War. 

According to Mathews's History, Michael Kistler was born on April 14, 1833, though the year of his birth may be incorrectly stated here, since the regimental records note that he was 32 years of age when he enlisted in the summer of 1861, which would put the year of his birth at 1829. Year of birth aside, Kistler was born and raised in Lynn Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, and was the son of Michael and Magdalena Brobst Kistler. He removed to Ringtown, Schuylkill County, in 1848 and at age 15 in order to learn the tanner's trade with his older brother, Joel. While at Ringtown, he met and fell in love with Catherine Rumbel and the two were later married. The couple had a number of children. By the outset of the Civil War, Michael was operating his own small tannery business in Ringtown, though left that life behind with the opening salvos at Fort Sumter. He enlisted on August 15, 1861, and at the time of his enlistment was 32 years of age. He stood among the tallest soldiers in the regiment at 5'11" and was described as having a light complexion, blue eyes, and dark hair. Although a tanner, he recorded that he was also a farmer by occupation. Kistler served well as a lieutenant in Company I, 48th, accompanying the regiment in its journeys first from Harrisburg, PA, to Fortress Monroe, VA, and from there to Hatteras and New Bern, North Carolina, before returning to Virginia in the summer of 1862. At 2nd Bull Run, a bullet tore through Kistler's coat collar while another round struck his scabbard. He emerged from this fight unscathed, though was not nearly as fortunate three weeks later at Antietam. Of course, it was there where he was so severely wounded by that bullet which tore through his shoulder, through his right lung, before lodging in his back that he was essentially given up for dead. As related above, however, through his indomitable spirit, he survived. After a four month convalescence, Kistler returned to the 48th Pennsylvania, which, by that time was recovering from its assaults against Lee's position at Fredericksburg. Kistler traveled westward with the regiment to Lexington, Kentucky, in the spring of 1863. It was there and it was then, however, that Kistler resigned from the regiment upon the advice of the superintendent of hospitals in the Department of the Ohio. But Kistler would continue to serve his country. He became the commanding officer of the First Company, Second Battalion, in the Ohio Department of the Veteran Reserve Corps and remained in this position performing various administrative and military duties until June 1866, when he was mustered out of service.

Kistler returned home to his wife Catherine and his loving family. He later relocated to Monroe County, entering into various business ventures with his brother Stephen, first in Bartonsville and then in Tannersville. The Kistler Brothers manufactured shoe-pegs, clothes-pins, and chair stock for more than ten years before Stephen Kistler's death in 1880. At that time, Michael retired from active business pursuits to focus on his farm in Tunkhannock Township. It does appear, though, that he served for a time during his "retirement" as postmaster of East Stroudsburg. "Lieutenant Kistler's life has been an active one," noted Alfred Mathews in his History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe Counties, Pennsylvania, "and withal his integrity of purpose in life's work, and his accumulation of a competency, his pride still lingers in the great honor of fighting for the preservation of the Union, and in his sacrifice for his country when in its greatest peril."

Michael Kistler passed away on July 6, 1907, at either age 74 or 78, and presumably with that bullet received at Antietam still lodged somewhere beneath his shoulder blade. His remains were laid to rest in the Stroudsburg Cemetery and there they continue their silent repose, next to the remains of his wife Catherine, who passed away in 1915 at age 83. 

In all my years studying and researching the 48th Pennsylvania, there are few times more satisfying than discovering not only a new face but in learning more about the life of one of its soldiers. 

My thanks go out to Brian Downey for all his work in finding Michael Kistler. 

Michael Kistler as Postmaster, Stroudsburg, PA

[Unknown attribution, ancestry.com] 

Michael Kistler, with son Stephen and Grandson Kirstel, ca. 1902

[Unknown attribution, ancestry.com] 

Michael Kistler and Granddaughter Lillian Irene Kistler, ca. 1905

[Unknown attribution, ancestry.com] 

[Biographical information from Mathews, Alfred. History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe Counties, Pennsylvania.  Philadelphia: R.T. Peck & Company, 1886. Pgs. 1028-1030]

Can You Help Identify This Unidentified 48th PA Image?

Our Unidentified Officer
Company I  48th Pennsylvania Infantry

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

Of the more than 1,800 soldiers who served in the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry, whether for a few months or for all four years of the regiment's existence, and over the course of my twenty+ years of studying the regiment, I have only been able to locate images of approximately 200 of them, or just about 11%. And of this number, a good many of these images are unidentified by name, which is the source of so much frustration. Some of the unidentified CDV's simply have something to the effect of "48th PVI" or "48th PA" scribbled on the back; in others, we can see "48" written in the hat brass, including in a remarkable collection of tintypes that once belonged to a noted and respected collector which went up for auction a number of years ago and which were featured in a 2003 edition of Military Images magazine (see below). None of the forty-two soldiers in this collection are identified but all are seated next to a kepi with "G" "48" on the chinstrap. Similar images of a soldier--taken at the same time/setting and so seated--have also appeared over the years and one of them, owned by a private collector, I am happy to say I have been able to positively identify as a member of Company G. 

November/December Edition of Military Images

 

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

I will be writing more about this collection of Company G tintypes sometime in the near future but, for now, I wanted to focus on an image of an unidentified officer who, presumably, served in Company I, 48th Pennsylvania Infantry. 

Here is the image--and the officer--in question: 

This image is part of the collection of the Historical Society of Schuylkill County. It was taken by A.M. Allen, a noted Pottsville photographer and, clearly, one can see the "I" and the "48" and the infantry bugle on his kepi. The shoulder boards reveal that he was a commissioned officer and although difficult to make out with 100% certainty, it appears he was a lieutenant. There is no date when the image was taken. Throughout the course of the war, there were seven men who served at one time or the other as a lieutenant in Company I--two of them being ultimately promoted to the rank of captain.

Fortunately, I do have images of five of these seven and they are as follows:

Benjamin B. Schuck

(Courtesy of Patriotic Order Sons of America)

Oliver A.J. Davis

(Hoptak Collection)

Francis D. Koch 

(Courtesy of Ronn Palm and the Museum of Civil War Images) 

Joseph Edwards

(Hoptak Collection) 

Francis Allebach

(Courtesy of Ronn Palm and the Museum of Civil War Images) 

At first glance, then, I think we can eliminate Schuck, Davis, Edwards, and even Koch. The officer in question does, somewhat, resemble Allebach--and perhaps he is our man. On the other hand, the eyes look different. . .

If it is not any of these five officers, that leaves two other possibilities. And while I do not have photographs of them, I do have their physical description as provided in the regimental muster and descriptive rolls.

They are:

George H. Gressang: 1st Lt.; Date of Enlistment: 8/23/1861; Age at Enlistment: 24; Height: 5'8; Complexion: Light; Eyes: Blue; Hair: Dark; Occupation: Machinist; Residence: Pottsville; Notes: Drowned 8/12/1862 by the sinking of the steamer West Point

Michael M. Kistler: 1st Lt.; Date of Enlistment: 8/15/1861; Age at Enlistment: 32; Height: 5'11; Complexion: Light; Eyes: Blue; Hair: Dark; Occupation: Farmer; Residence: Ringtown; Date of Discharge: 10/21/1862; Notes: Wounded severely at Antietam, 9/17/1862; Promoted from 2nd Lt. 10/20/62; Discharged due to wounds; 10/21/62; Transferred to Veterans Res. Corps.

So, there we have it. I would love to get your thoughts. Do you believe this to be another image of Allebach? Or of either Gressang or Kistler? And, if so, which would you say was more likely based off their physical description?

Or is there something I am missing entirely here?