The 48th/150th: "Every Heart Was Filled to Overflowing:" The Road To Appomattox & The Surrender of Lee's Army

U.S. Soldiers Stand Atop The Earthworks at the Captured Fort Mahone
April 1865
[National Archives]

150 Years Ago. . .and at long last, Petersburg, which according to Oliver Bosbyshell had been "so long invested, so hotly contested, and so stubbornly defended," had at last fallen. . .On April 3, 1865, United States soldiers entered the city and raised the American flag once more. Further to the north, Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, had also fallen. The Confederate government was on the run, as was Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. Union forces were fast upon their heels and quickly closing in. On April 9, Lee surrendered at Appomattox.

 



The Appomattox Campaign
[Map by Hal Jespersen, www.posix.com/CW]

For the past 290-some days, since mid-June, 1864, the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry had spent its days in the trenches east and south of Petersburg and had participated in a number of engagements during this long tenure. Their final struggle came on April 2, 1865, when they participated in the charge upon Fort Mahone. The regiment had done well and had fought with characteristic doggedness and determination during the assault but though they, along with several other units, were able to pierce the defenses of Fort Mahone, they had a difficult time in advancing from there and had their hands full dealing with a series of equally determined Confederate counterattacks. Further to their left, however, the army's Sixth Corps was able to complete the breakthrough. This, along with other reverses, compelled Lee to retreat. The army soon took up the chase, with the Fifth Corps and Cavalry Corps leading the way. The soldiers of the Ninth Corps also took up the march, forming the extreme right wing of the army, with little time for rest after the long investment of Petersburg and less time to mourn for their comrades who had there lost their lives. By nightfall on April 4, the 48th had arrived at Sutherland; the next day, their route of march took them past Fords and Wellville and all the way to Nottoway Court House, where they encamped for the night. April 7, the 48th had reached Farmville and there learned that the Ninth Corps was now to serve as escorts for some 8,000 Confederate prisoners, including Generals Richard Ewell, Joseph Kershaw, and Custis Lee, who had all fallen into Union at the April 6 Battle of Sailor's Creek. With their prisoners in tow, the 48th set out on the journey to Burkeville on April 8 and it was there, on the morning of April 10, that they heard for the first time the "joyful news" of Lee's surrender to Grant the previous day.

 

Capturing in words the true sentiment of the men--the elation, the relief--upon hearing of Lee's surrender is an impossibility. No doubt, for the weary veterans, longing to return home, the thought that the war was, at last, drawing to an end, that it would at last soon be over, took a while to sink in. Thoughts of the days at Fort Monroe way back in the fall of 1861 may have crossed their minds, with fond memories of those days before all the slaughter. Perhaps the long-serving veteran troops also thought back to their eight-month stay in North Carolina, or their hard campaigns in Virginia, Maryland, and East Tennessee, to the bloodshed that was 2nd Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg. The men no doubt shook hands all around and embraced one another and many were the tears that were shed; shed in happiness at the thought that they would soon be heading home, and shed in sadness at the thought of so many of their friends, neighbors, and comrades who had fallen throughout the previous four years. And while it is impossible to accurately capture the feelings of the moment, regimental historian, Joseph Gould, tried when he recorded simply that "The news [of Appomattox] created the greatest enthusiasm amongst the troops. Great, strong, bearded men embraced, and, in many instances kissed each other and shouted. The bands tried to make as much noise as the men, and the greatest joy prevailed. All suffering and hardships that we had undergone were forgotten, every heart was filled to overflowing."

 

 

Artist Tom Lovell's Famed Rendering of the Surrender at Appomattox

 

The 48th/150th: The 48th's Last Battle: The Attack on Fort Mahone: April 2, 1865

. . .Where Gowen Fell. . .
Fort Mahone Today

 

 

Throughout the four years of the American Civil War--by rail, by foot, and on water--the 48th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry traversed nearly 5,000 miles of ground, campaigning in several different theaters of operations, and across seven states. Along the way, the regiment had compiled an extensive service record, participating in nearly two dozen major battle actions of the war and in countless other skirmishes and lesser engagements. The 48th's record banner remains emblazoned with such sanguinary and familiar battles as "2nd Bull Run," "Antietam." "Fredericksburg," "Campbell's Station," "Siege of Knoxville," "Wilderness," "Spotsylvania," "North Anna," "Cold Harbor," and "Petersburg," among others.

 

Yet it was 150 years today--on April 2, 1865--that the regiment fought in its last battle.

 

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

 

For the past 290 days--since mid-June 1864--the soldiers of the 48th remained in the trenches east of Petersburg. It was a severe trial for the men to endure for so long the hardships of life in the trenches, exposed to the elements, and to the constant artillery and musketry fire. It should never had lasted this long; indeed, just a few days after taking up positions east of Petersburg, the 48th embarked upon its effort at tunneling under the Confederate line. Their undertaking was remarkably successful and it should have led to the end of the siege at Petersburg. If only Meade and Grant and Burnside had handled things differently. Surely not a day went by after the bloody repulse at the Crater that the men of the 48th thought about what could of been; how they should have been at home by now; how they should have been the architects of the grand Union victory. Frustration, even anger and resentment, remained.

 

Yet with the arrival of spring in 1865, there was a sense that, at long last, the end was near. As regimental historian Oliver Bosbyshell noted, "As the spring came on all felt that decisive action would surely ensue." In early March, Lincoln had taken the Oath of Office for the second time while, further south, Sherman and his men were cutting their way through the Carolinas. And at Petersburg, Grant decided that the time had come to strike again at Robert E. Lee and his vaunted, once seemingly-invincible Army of Northern Virginia. During the final days of March and into April, Grant directed his army to extend to the left, toward Lee's right flank and rear. There was a series of running fights, skirmishes, and pitched battles, all of which ended badly for Lee; his lines were stretched far too thin--his army was on the verge of its breaking point. He knew Petersburg and Richmond must surely fall. On April 1, Union forces under Philip Sheridan and Gouverneur Warren won a marked victory at the Battle of Five Forks, inflicting nearly 3,000 casualties upon Lee's ever-dwindling army and, perhaps more importantly, opening the way to sever Lee's only remaining supply line, the Southside Railroad. When Grant learned about this, he knew the time had come; Lee would be desperate. Grant therefore decided to order an all-out assault on the Confederate lines immediately east and south of Petersburg. To carry out this assault, he called upon his Sixth and Ninth Corps.  

 

The 48th Pennsylvania Infantry formed part of General John Curtin's brigade, in Robert Potter's division, of the Ninth Army Corps, which, since the previous August had been under the command of Major General John Parke. Late on the night of April 1, Parke received orders that he was to attack. He opted to launch the attack directly from Fort Sedgwick--which the men in blue had dubbed "Fort Hell"--and directly upon the Confederate fortification known as Fort Mahone, better known as "Fort Damnation." The Confederate numbers had thinned considerably there, but their defensive line--and especially Fort Mahone--was still quite imposing and formidable. It would be a desperate and deadly struggle, with the men forced to charge across that no-man's land that separated the opposing lines of earthworks and fortifications, broken by abattis and chevaux-de-frise, in the face of a deadly storm of lead and iron. This open, deadly land between Forts Hell and Damnation the men called "purgatory."
 

 

April 2, 1865
Petersburg
The 9th Corps's Attack is on far right of map
(Map by Hal Jespersen, www.posix.com/CW)

 

 

 

On the night of April 1, the soldiers of the 48th learned of their orders. Their commander--Colonel George Washington Gowen--had been summoned that night to General Curtin's headquarters and there Curtin explained the plan to storm Fort Mahone directly to Gowen and to all of his brigade's regimental commanders. At the end of their meeting, after all arrangements were made, Curtin shook hands with each of his regimental commanders. Gowen, who had taken command of the 48th upon Henry Pleasants's departure in December 1864, was well acquainted with Curtin and as the two shook hands, Gowen reportedly told Curtin that the attack on Fort Mahone would be his last battle, that he had a sense that he would not survive the coming storm. Curtin attempted to disabuse Gowen of this idea and told him that he would place the 48th in reserve. But Gowen objected and insisted that he and his hard-fighting, veteran regiment take their designated--and rightful--place in line.

 

Meanwhile, the soldiers of the 48th were maneuvering in the darkness, eventually taking up position to the left of Fort Hell. In their haversacks they carried three days' rations, consisting mostly of sugar, coffee, and hard bread, remembered Sergeant William Wells of Company F. Although it was spring, it was still early enough in the season for the nights to be rather cold and the recent rains had turned much of the trench lines into muddy pits. And so, exposed to the chilly air and with their boots and pants damp and covered with mud, the soldiers of the 48th, having arrived at their designated jumping-off point, broke ranks and. . .waited. Surely a strange mix of foreboding and relief coursed through the regiment that night, with the usual anxiety and fear that came before any big fight but this time tempered by the thought that this might just be the battle that at last ends the war. One more battle, one more fight. . .then they could finally go home. No doubt the thought of loved ones back at home filled their thoughts as the men waited for the inevitable orders to attack. Through the darkness some of the men may have strained to see their objective, Fort Mahone, looming like a dark shadow before them, only a few hundred yards to their front. To their right, on the other side of Fort Hell were the men of Hartranft's Third Division, Ninth Corps, also awaiting the orders to advance; at the same time, to their left, further to the south and west, soldiers of the Army of the Potomac's veteran Sixth Corps were also taking up positions.

 

To better their chances, Grant decided to precede the infantry assault with all-out artillery bombardment. Throughout the night of April 1, the artillerists manning the cannons all along the Union lines east and south of Petersburg prepared for what would be a massive and memorable artillery barrage. As they wheeled their guns into position--and as the gunner's adjusted their elevating screws and got good range--an eerie silence descended upon the lines. It was already past midnight; Sunday, April 2 had dawned. Few got any sleep that night; many may have tried but the anxiety was much too pronounced. Most of the men were lost in their thoughts. For the moment, in the dark, in the trenched, all was quiet. Then, suddenly, a lone voice rang out. A soldier, described as "some irrepressible Irishman from Company C" shouted for all to hear, "Boys, we're going to early mass." This broke the tension and "caused the boys to laugh," remembered one veteran, "when they did not feel much like it."

 

It was not long after this that the artillery opened fire and it would be an experience the soldiers of the 48th would not soon forget. Joseph Gould, regimental historian, later recalled that "Orders had been issued on the night of the 1st that all batteries on the line should open their guns to cover the advance of the infantry. The roar of the signal gun at the Avery house found all the artillerymen at their posts and anxious to end the war. The bombardment grew furious as it increased along the whole line, from north of Petersburg to Hatcher's Run. The rebel guns replied with vigor, and this bombardment was the most terrific experienced on that front. The sight was one rarely seen. From hundreds of cannons, field guns and mortars came a stream of living fire as the shells screamed through the air in a semi-circle of flame, the noise was almost deafening." The men marveled at the sight, awed by the shells streaking light and flame across the dark night skies; no doubt the ground under them trembled. The bombardment was to last until 4:00 a.m., when the infantry would then charge forward. . .but at 4:00 o'clock it was still so dark that the men would not be able to see. The assault was delayed another half an hour, while the artillery barrage resumed.

 

Then, at long last, came the appointed time. . .at 4:30 a.m., orders raced their way along the soldiers in blue. The men rose to their feet, stretched their legs and quickly fell into line, taking deep breaths and wiping the sweat from their palms. Potter's division of the Ninth Corps, which would lead the attack from the left of Fort Sedgwick while Hartranft's men attacked on the right, took up position, stacked up and stretched out eighteen-regiments deep. Making their way forward, the regiment passed around the rear of Fort Sedgwick, through trenches that were muddy and, in places, nearly knee-deep with water. Making their way across the Jerusalem Plank Road, the battle lines were formed and through the misty fog of that fateful dawn, the men began their charge forward.

 

Alfred Waud Depiction of the Ninth Corps's Attack on Fort Mahone
(Harpers Weekly)

 

 

Gould wrote that that morning the soldiers of the 48th were "eager to be avenged for the repulse at the explosion of the mine eight months before." Very succinctly he recorded that the men "fought like demons; and, in the teeth of the storm of grape, canister and musketry, plunged into the field and charged without flinching, until they reached the inside of the enemy lines." The fields over which they advanced were swept with a destructive fire but it took only a matter of minutes before the 48th made their way across "purgatory." Their advance was soon stalled, however, when they reached the Confederate abattis and cheaveux-de-fries immediately in front of Fort Mahone. One man, known only as "R," wrote that confusion ensued when the necessary halt was made in order to remove these obstructions and during this confused halt, "the enemy poured a destructive fire both from infantry and artillery" upon the stalled 48th. "Here the regiment was massed," recorded Sgt. Wells, "seeking a passage and forcing their way through as fast as the pioneers cut away the obstructions." The pioneers, who led the way with their axes, worked feverishly to cut through the abattis and cheaveaux-de-fries, but with each passing moment, men were falling. Sergeant Patrick Monaghan later declared that here, the "regimental front was rapidly diminishing." In the dirt and mud, in the damp mist of that early April morning, all was chaos, madness, slaughter. . .

 

Surgeon William R.D. Blackwood (center)
Library of Congress

 

In the midst of this, William Robert Douglass Blackwood, the regimental surgeon, was conspicuous in his bravery. As the action raged the hottest, twenty-five-year-old Blackwood, a native of Ireland and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, made his way repeatedly to the front  to help remove severely wounded officers and soldiers from the field, all while under a heavy fire from the enemy. Thirty-two years later, in July 1897, Blackwood's most distinguished gallantry at Fort Mahone would earn him a Medal of Honor.

 

Blackwood Removing Wounded From The Field
From Deeds of Valor

 

 

Meanwhile, at the front, the attack bogged down; the 48th still stalled in their advance. Alongside the regimental colors was Colonel George Gowen, waving his sword and shouting encouraging words, doing all in his power to keep the men moving forward. But it was at this moment that Gowen's premonition came to fruition. Monaghan--whose braver at Petersburg the previous summer earned him a Medal of Honor--remembered seeing Gowen lean over to talk with Sgt. Samuel Bedall, who was carrying the flag. Gowen then "straightened up" remembered Monaghan, "when a shell, hot from the mouth of one of the rebel guns of Fort Mahone, exploded in our midst." Gowen instantly fell forward, directly on his face and when Monaghan turned him over he discovered that half of Gowen's head had been blown away. Indeed, Gowen's blood and brains were splattered on the flag carried by Beddall. Along with two others, Monaghan carried Gowen's lifeless body back to the captured Confederate picket lines further to the rear.  

 

Colonel George Gowen
Killed in Action April 2, 1865

 

 

In this initial charge, only a handful of soldiers actually made it to within the earthen walls of Fort Mahone. Perhaps seeing Gowen fall inspired them to keep going; either way all who did were either gunned down or captured. Most of the regiment fell back to reform. While there, General John Curtin, the brigade commander, made his way into the ranks of the reforming 48th. Exhausted, Curtin, a fellow Pennsylvania, leaned upon his sword and called out, "Let us make one more charge for the honor of the Old Keystone State!" And around him, the 48th gathered. Curtin turned to Sgt. Wells and to Corporal Howard Haas of Cressona and asked them to find the colors. Soon, Wells and Haas returned with Sergeants Beddall and William Taylor, "two of the best and most gallant men in the regiment," said Wells. With this nucleus formed, said Wells, the soldiers of the 48th, "without much regard to Company formation," soon charged back across purgatory and toward Fort Mahone. The soldiers "advanced with loud and continuous cheering to the assault, determined to avenge Colonel Gowen's untimely death. Over, around, and through the remaining obstructions with wild shouts they fly, and over the moat, already filled with dead and dying, they reached the glacis of the fort, and, muzzle to muzzle, patriot and rebel, blaze into each others faces, the guns in the fort being now useless."

 

Sergeant Samuel Beddall, one of the youngest soldiers in the regiment,
carried a flag during the Attack on Fort Mahone
(From Gould)  

Sergeant Patrick Monaghan
Removed the Lifeless Body of Gowen from the Field

Sergeant William Wells
Wounded During Final Stage of Battle
(From Gould)

 

 

The 48th poured up and over the walls of Fort Mahone. Nearby swept forward the 39th New Jersey Infantry. Captain John Williams of Company F was fearful the 39th's flag would be captured and so shouted out, "Forward, boys, and save the Jersey colors!"  With one more determined push, the 48th swept through Fort Mahone. "Hand to hand, butt to butt, bayonet to bayonet the fight continued," said Wells. It was not long before the Confederate line broke, the men fleeing to the rear. Fort Mahone had been taken. The 9th Corps's attack, however, soon bogged down in the maze of entrenchments behind Fort Mahone. They would struggle to hold onto their foothold, for Confederate General John Gordon would spend much of the rest of that Sunday launching determined counterattacks to wrest Fort Mahone back from the boys in blue. Further to the west, however, the soldiers of the Sixth Corps enjoyed greater success in punching through and routing Lee's men from their entrenchments and later that evening, a defeated Robert E. Lee ordered an all-out evacuation of Petersburg. The ninth-month-long siege was at last over.

 

 

Modern-Day Image of the Location of Fort Mahone
The Monument of the 48th Pennsylvania pictured here was placed near the spot where Gowen Fell

 

 

 

150 years ago today, on Sunday, April 2, 1865, the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry fought its last battle of the Civil War. They had succeeded in breaking into Fort Mahone and driving the Confederates from this formidable position but the regiment had paid a dear and heavy price. In the aftermath of the fight, it was recorded that eleven men--including Colonel Gowen--were killed or mortally wounded in the assault, with another fifty-three men wounded, and twenty-one either captured or missing. Several of the wounded would later succumb to their injuries, bringing the total fatality count up to sixteen.

 

 

Private Daniel Barnett
Co. E
Killed 150 Years Ago Today At Petersburg
(Hoptak Collection)

 

 

The casualties sustained by the 48th 150 years ago today, in the regiment's final battle of the war--the Assault on Fort Mahone at Petersburg--follows:

 

Killed/Mortally Wounded: (16)

 

Colonel George Gowen

Sergeant John Homer, Co. B

Nicholas Stephens, Co. B

John Coutts, Co. B

Cpl. James Nicholson, Co. C

Aaron P. Wagner, Co. D

Daniel D. Barnett, Co. E

David McElvie, Co. F

James King, Co. H

William Donnelly, Co. H

George Uhl, Co. H

Albert Mack, Co. I

Albert Zimmerman, Co. I

Wesley Boyer, Co. I

Jacob Reichwein, Co. I

Simon Hoffman, Co. K

 

Wounded: (53)  

 

John Adams, Co. A (slightly, in foot)

1st Sgt. John Watkins, Co. B (severe, in thigh)

Sgt. Robert Campbell, Co. B (slight, in wrist)

William H. Ward, Co. B (slight, in thumb)

Robert Jones, Co. B (severe, in face)

George Seibert, Co. C (severe, in head)

Casper Groduverant, Co. C (slight, in shoulder)

Albert Kurtz, Co. C (severe, in thigh)

James F. Martin, Co. C (slight, in finger)

Paul Dehne, Co. C (slight, in hand)

Sgt. Henry Rothenberger, Co. D (severe, in eye)

Cpl. Levi Derr, Co. D (slight, in foot)
Jacob Schmidt, Co. D (severe, in head)

Edward McGuire, Co. D (slight, in finger)

Joseph Buddinger, Co. D (slight, in shoulder)

Chester Philips, Co. D (slight, in shoulder)

Thomas Wische, Co. D (slight, in head)

Cpl. William Morgan, Co. E (slight, in leg)

William James, Co. E (slight, in arm)

Robert Meredith, Co. E (severe, in right knee)

Frederick Goodwin, Co. E (severe, in right hand and neck)

Thomas Hays, Co. E  (slight, in wrist)

2nd Lt. Henry Reese, Co. F (slight, in arm)

Sgt. William Wells, Co. F (severe, in shoulder)

Cpl. John Devlin, Co. F (severe, in hand)

James Dempsey, Co. F (severe, in leg)

John Crawford, Co. F (slight, in leg)

Peter Bailey, Co. G (slight, in hand)

John Droble, Co. G (severe, in right shoulder)

Patrick Daley, Co. G (slight, in finger)

Nicholas Fers, Co. G (severe, in left thigh)

Thomas Howell, Co. G (slight, in abdomen)

Thomas Smith, Co. G (slight, in thigh)

John Wright, Co. G (severe, in thumb)

George Kane, Co. G (severe, in leg)

1st Lt. William Auman, Co. G (severe, in mouth)

Sgt. Peter Radelberger, Co. H (severe, right arm and breast)

Willoughby Lentz, Co. H (slight, in shoulder)

George E. Lewis, Co. H (slight, in thigh)

Benjamin Koller, Co. H (slight, arm)

Cpl. Henry Matthews, Co. H (slight, in arms)

2nd Lt. Thomas Silliman, Co. H (severe, in throat)

Jonathan Mowery, Co. I (severe, both thighs)

Charles C. Wagner, Co. I (severe, right leg)

Joseph Shoener, Co. I (severe, right leg)

John Road, Co. I  (severe, right leg and wrist)

Henry Goodman, Co. I  (dangerous, in face)

Benjamin Kline, Co. K (slight, in back)

Paul Snyder, Co. K (slight, in back)

Jacob Ebert, Co. K (severe, in thigh)

David Philips, Co. K (slight, in side)

Jno. Williams, Co. K (slight, in arm)

Joseph Wildermuth, Co. K (severe, right shoulder)

 

Captured/Missing In Action: (21)  

 

Sgt. Isaac Fritz, Co. B

William Reppert, Co. B

Michael Kingsley, Co. B

Lewis Kleckner, Co. B

Henry Rinker, Co. B

Daniel Hurley, Co. B

Cpl. James Hannan, Co. C

Samuel Kessler, Co. D

1st Sgt. John McElrath, Co. E

Cpl. George W. James, Co. E

Daniel McGeary, Co. E

John O'Neil, Co. E

Patrick Galligan, Co. F

Sgt. James McReynolds, Co. I

James Mullen, Co. I

Theodore Pletz, Co. I

John Oats, Co. I

Thomas J. Reed, Co. I

William Pelton, Co. K

John Marshall, Co. K

George Showers, Co. K

 

 

*Information from Joseph Gould, The Story of the Forty-Eighth, Oliver Bosbyshell, The 48th In The War, and Stu Richards, http://schuylkillcountymilitaryhistory.blogspot.com/2009/09/last-assault-of-48th-pennsylvania.html

 

"With Hearts of Steel, They'll Stand The Field. . ." A Previously Unknown Song Composed by Private David Hamilton, 48th Pennsylvania

 

 

Little is known about Private David Hamilton of Company E, 48th Pennsylvania. He volunteered in late November 1861 and was mustered into service on December 9. The muster rolls held at the state archives list his age at 44, while another source gives his age as 35. Either way he was among the older enlisted soldiers in the regiment. He stood 5'6" in height, had a Light Complexion, Sandy Hair, and Blue Eyes. He was a farmer by profession who made his home somewhere in Schuylkill County. The regimental roster provided in Joseph Gould's regimental history states that Private Hamilton was "Sick in Hospital" in December 1862 and that when the regiment disbanded in July 1865 he was simply "Not on muster out roll." There is no pension file for Hamilton and, indeed, no service records for a "David Hamilton" in the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry. Whether Hamilton was discharged and sent home or if he succumbed to his illness we simply do not know.

 

We do know, however, that David Hamilton liked to compose poetry and songs. One of his works, entitled "Song for the 48th P.V.V." is currently held at the United States Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and can be read here.

 

And just yesterday, a previously unknown song composed by Hamilton appeared for sale on ebay. This one has no formal title, simply "Song Composed by David Hamilton, Co. E 48th Reg. P.V." From the contents, it is likely this one was written in either late 1861 or early 1862.

 

Please click here to view the entire listing and to see images of the song. The following is a transcription, with Hamilton's original spelling intact:

"SONG COMPOSIED BY DAVID HAMILTON, Co. E, 48th REG, PV "COME ALL YOU GALLANT VOLLINTERS & I PRAY YOU LEND A EAR
AND I WILL NOT DETAIN YOU LONG WITH WHAT YOUR GOING TO HEAR
I'M PROUD TO SEE SO MANY HERE BRAVE NOBLE HEARTED MEN
THAT HAS COME FORTH OUT FROM THE NORTH THEIR COUNTRY TO DEFEND
2 VERSE
YOU'V LEFT YOUR LOVING HAPPY HOMES ALL DANGERS FOR TO BRAVE
YOU'V LEFT YOUR LOVING WIFES AND BABES YOUR COUNTRY FOR TO SAVE
YOU'V LEFT YOUR AGED PARENTS, DEAR YOUR SWEETHEARTS NEW DOES MOURN
BECAUSE YOUR NOBLE SPIRITS FELT THE STARS AND STRIPES WERE TORN
3 VERSE
I CANNOT PRAISE YOU AS I SHOULD FOR WORDS I CANNOT FIND
I CANNOT PRAISE YOU AS I WOULD ALTHOUGH ITS ON MY MIND
BUT CHILDREN YET THAT IS UNBORN WILL TELL IT DAY TO COME
OUR NOBLE FATHERS BLED  AND DIED FOR THIS OUR HAPPY HOME
4TH
BUT THEIR IS SOME THAT GAVE THEIR NAMES TO JOIN US IN THE WAR
BUT WHEN THE PEORIED DID ARRIVE FOR THEM TO MARCH AWAY
THEY SYGHED AND SAID WE ARE AFFRAID AT HOME WE'RE BOUND TO STAY
5
SOME OF THEM CAME TO HARRISBURG AND TARRIED THREE DAYS
THEY EAT OUR BISCUIT AND OUR SOUP OUR PICKLED PORK AND PEAS
BUT WHEN THEY DID OUR CANNONS SEE THEY LOOKED IN GREAY DISMAY
LIKE COWARDLY DOGS THEY HID THEIR TAILS AND QUICKLY RAN AWAY
6
SUCH CHIKEN HEARTS WE DO DISDAIN WEE WILL HAVE NONE OF THEM
IF THEY WERE MUSTERED IN OUR RANKS THEY WOULD US SPELT TO SHAME
WEE  WANT NO COWARDS IN OUR BANDS THAT WOULD OUR COLOURS FLY
WEE CALL FOR VALIOUR HEARTED MEN WHO ARE NOT AFFRAID TO DIE
7
THE PENNSYLVANIA FORTY-EIGHT ARE LIKE MEN OF RENOWN
THEY ARE NOT AFFRAID TO GIVE THEIR AID TO PUT REBELLION DOWN
WITH COLONEL NEAGLE AT THEIR HEAD HIS NAKED SWORD IN HAND
THRAUGHT THE LAND HE'LL LEAD HIS BAND THE UNION TO DEFEND
8
TO SEE THIS REGIMENT ON PARADE HOW MARTIAL THEY APPEAR
ALL ARMED AND DRESSED IN UNIFORM THEY LOOK LIKE MEN OF WAR
THEY ARE THE BOYS THAT FEAR NO NOISE WHERE THUNDERING CANNON ROAR
WITH HEARTS OF STEEL THEY'LL STAND THE FIELD ALL ON THE SOUTHERN SHORE.
9TH VERSE
THEIRS ONE THING I WOULD LET YOU KNOW ERE I CONCLUDE MY SONG
A SPLENDID BAND OF MUSIC TO THIS REGT DOES BELONG
THEIR TUNES ARE SWEET AND PLAYED COMPLEET TIS CHARMING THEM TO HEAR
ON DRILLING GROUND THEY SWEETLY SOUND ALONG OUR FRONT AND REAR
10
THE NEXT DOES COME THE FIFES AND DRUMES THEY PLAY WITH MERRY GLEE
AS THEY ADVANCE OUR FRONT ALONG THEY MARCH MOST GALLANTLY
THEY PLAY BOTH SWETT AND MERRILY AND KEEPS TO EQUAL TIME
THEY SOME TIMES PLAY US DIXIES LAND AND BONNY CROSSED THE RHINE
11
NOW BROTHER SOLDIERS I DO FEEL MY RHYME IS AT AN END
I HOPE EACH GALLANT SOLDIER WILL THE STARS AND STRIPES DEFEND
AND WHEN THIS WAR IS AT AND END IF EVER WE GET HOME
I HOPE THE GALLANT FORTY-EIGHT WILL ADD ANOTHER SONG. END  

The 48th/150th: The Regiment's New Commander, Colonel George Washington Gowen

150 years ago. . .the soldiers of the 48th Pennsylvania continued to wait out the winter while in their trenches and bombproofs outside of Petersburg, spending their time and passing the monotonous days of winter as best they could while inside Fort Hell and doing their best to simply stay alive as the air continued to be filled with the whizzing Minie balls and deep boom of artillery fire. 

A Pre-war Image of George W. Gowen 

By this time, the soldiers had had ample time to become even more acquainted with their new commanding officer, Colonel George Washington Gowen. A capable and hard-fighting officer, Gowen had entered the regiment back in September 1861 as the First Lieutenant of Company C, serving directly underneath his friend and fellow engineer Henry Pleasants who was initially the commanding officer of C Company. Company C was recruited largely from Pottsville and its immediate environs, including Heckschersville and Cass Township, the scene of rising and increasingly violent labor demonstrations that the mine owners would deem anti-war activity and which the newspapers would blame on the Molly Maguires. As Pleasants advanced in rank as the war years ticked by, so, too, did Gowen, and by the time the 48th arrived opposite Petersburg in June 1864, Pleasants was Lieutenant Colonel, in command of a brigade, while Gowen held the rank of Captain, in command of Company C. Like Pleasants, Gowen was a gifted civil mining engineer and he would be among the first to hear of Pleasants's plan to dig under Elliot's Salient in June 1864. According to one account, Pleasants, after overhearing one of Gowen's men remark that they could blow the Confederate fort out of existence if only they could tunnel under it, discussed the idea first with Gowen, who agreed that it could be done. When Pleasants's term of service expired in mid-December 1864, Gowen assumed command of the 48th. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on December 20, 1864, while promotion to full colonel came on March 1, 1865. 

Gowen was young--just twenty-four years of age--when he took command of the 48th. Born in 1840 in Philadelphia, Gowen was a first-generation American although he was born into an exceptionally rich and well-to-do family. His father, James Gowen, was a native County Tyrone, Ireland, who, in 1811 at age 21, immigrated to the United States, making his home in Philadelphia. There, he prospered as a shipping merchant, grocer, wine merchant, and, finally, cattle breeder. He was also a member of the city council. In 1827, thirty-seven-year-old James Gowen married Mary Miller, who was just nineteen years of age at the time of her wedding and herself from a prosperous, well-to-do Germantown family. Over the next twenty-two years, Mary would give birth of nine children, the first--Alfred Gowen--being born in 1828, and the last--Emily Gowen--born in 1850. George Washington Gowen came along in 1840. And as Mary raised her family, James Gowen was making quite a large fortune. Indeed, according to the 1860 Census, James Gowen's estate was valued at $100,000. 

By then, George Washington Gowen had left home to make it on his own. He had received a good education and had attended private school in Mt. Airy and by 1860 he, along with his older brother Benjamin Franklin Gowen--a controversial figure who would later serve as lead prosecutor of the Molly Maguires--had left the Philadelphia area and settled in Pottsville, the seat of Schuylkill County. There Benjamin would thrive as an attorney and George as a civil engineer. In the summer of 1861, Gowen decided to volunteer his services and in September, he was mustered into service as 1st Lieutenant, Company C, 48th Pennsylvania Infantry. 

Gowen in Uniform
[From Gould: The Story of the Forty-Eighth] 

He took well to the life of a soldier, though he frequently pined for a commission in the Regular Army or for an assignment as a staff officer. While the regiment was encamped at Hatteras in late 1861, Gowen so impressed General Thomas Williams that he named the young officer Provost Marshal of the island. Then, in early 1862, Gowen was detached from the 48th and given a commission in Battery C, 1st U.S. Artillery and, with this battery, he fought admirably in the battles of Newbern and Fort Macon. He returned to the 48th in the summer of 1862 as the Acting Regimental Adjutant and in this position "won the esteem of the entire Regiment, both officers and men, by his gentlemanly deportment," or so said Schuylkill County newspaperman Francis Wallace in 1865.  In September 1862, Gowen returned to his old Company C and became its Captain. Company C was rather notorious in the 48th as a company of troublemakers, a hard lot to manage but Gowen seems to have done well. According to Wallace, Gowen "entered upon its duties with a seeming fore-knowledge of their nature.--Keeping his Company under an excellent state of discipline--always rigorously just and yet kindly foreboding, he could not but win the love of his men." Perhaps. . .but as is clear from an early October 1862 letter Gowen wrote to a friend, he wanted out of the regiment: "I am getting along pretty well," said Gowen, "Yet I often feel that I could be situated more pleasantly and have regretted a thousand times that I did not get a position in the Regular Army a year ago. You cannot imagine the difference between the two branches of the service--the four months I spent with Co, "C" 1st Artillery were by far the pleasantest of the campaign--there are two or three very fine fellows in my Regiment [the 48th] but when that is said, all is said. A position on a Staff is my ambition, as it is of most young officers." The next year, when the regiment traveled west to Kentucky, Gowen was temporarily relieved from command of Company C in order to help construct Burnside's massive supply base at Camp Nelson. As a highly regarded engineer, Gowen also helped lay out a new military railroad that being run to Nicholasville. In this work, Gowen succeeded admirably and his wish would come true when he was appointed Assistant Chief Engineer on the staff of Major General Ambrose Burnside. Another prestigious staff assignment followed when, in the fall of 1863, he was made an Assistant Engineer on the staff of General Robert Potter, a position he held throughout the Knoxville Campaign. 

General Robert Potter & Staff
Gowen is standing sixth from left
[Library of Congress] 

It seems that Gowen was still holding a staff officer's assignment during the Overland Campaign of 1864, as an Aide-de-Camp to General John Parke. Wallace was effusive in his praise of Gowen's conduct during this bloody season of fighting in Virginia: "Shrinking from no danger, but ever ready, Capt. Gowen, in this campaign, won the highest praise. Ever on the alert--the first on the ground at an alarm--his untiring activity rendered him one of General Parke's most trusty agents and reliable assistants." For his conspicuous bravery at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Totopotomoy Creek, Cold Harbor and Petersburg, Gowen was brevetted first a major then a lieutenant colonel. Finally, in December 1864, when Henry Pleasants was discharged from service and sent home, George Gowen returned once more to the 48th, this time to take command of the regiment. His thoughts upon returning to the regiment are not known, but the men welcomed him back by presenting him with the gift of "most noble horse," and a full set of equipment. As commanding officer of the 48th, Gowen settled into his new assignment and readied himself and his men for the upcoming thaw and the commencement, once more, of hostilities. 

[My thanks to Annette Jackson, a volunteer at the Petersburg National Battlefield, for much of the biographical information on Gowen. Additional information was gathered from Francis Wallace's Memorial to the Patriotism of Schuylkill County, and from Joseph Gould's and Oliver Bosbyshell's regimental histories. The October 2, 1862, letter referenced above is held at the United States Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, PA]  

The 48th/150th: A New Year, Another Winter. . .And Still Inside Fort Hell

150 years ago, the soldiers of the 48th Pennsylvania welcomed the New Year--1865--with but little fanfare or ceremony, though perhaps with a bit more optimism that this war would soon be over and that this just might be their last winter in uniform. To them, New Year's Day was just another day--another cold day--in the trenches outside of Petersburg. For the past few weeks they had made Fort Sedgwick their home, an earthen fortification better known as Fort Hell. It was there where they would spend that Holiday season. For those few men who had served with the regiment since its organization during that long-ago summer of 1861, it would be their fourth winter in the army; their fourth Christmas away from home. During the winter of '61-'62, the regiment was encamped on the sandy beaches of Hatteras Island, North Carolina. Next winter--'62-'63--found them one mile east of the banks of the Rapphannock River and opposite the torn and shattered town of Fredericksburg, in the midst of despair following the debacle there and the ignominious Mud march that followed. The winter of '63-'64, however, proved even worse, for it was it spent in the mountains of east Tennessee, in very cold temperatures and with snowfall, sleet and ice ever present. The men would call that winter their "Valley Forge Winter."

Inside Fort Hell
(Library of Congress)

Now, as 1864 turned to 1865, the soldiers of the 48th found themselves only a few hundred yards removed from their butternut and gray-clad adversaries. The siege at Petersburg had commenced more than six months earlier. How many of them were thinking that they should not have been there? That this war should have been long over by then? That they should have been enjoying the Holidays back at home? No doubt these thoughts crossed the minds of so many of the 48th's soldiers when thinking back to what they had accomplished the previous summer, in tunneling under the Confederate lines. What an opportunity. . .squandered. So, there they still were. With the success of Sherman further south and Sheridan in the Valley--and with the reelection of Lincoln in November--however, there may have been more optimism that winter, optimism that this war would soon wrap up. But when? How much longer would they have to endure this life--life in the trenches, a life on edge?  With the constant sniper fire and ever-present artillery rounds blasting overhead or burrowing deep into the trenches, any moment could be their last. . .

A Man Stands Outside A Bombproof Inside Fort Hell
(Library of Congress)

New Year's Day 1865 was quiet--eerily quiet; not a shot fired was all. Next day, however, the two sides renewed their murderous hostilities.  "On January 2," wrote regimental historian Joseph Gould, "we had a perfect shower of shells." When this fire commenced, the men of the 48th were being visited by those of the 96th Pennsylvania, another regiment recruited principally from Schuylkill County. Hopeful of renewing acquaintances or just spending time amongst old friends and neighbors, the Schuylkill County men instead found themselves having to race through the trenches, ducking for cover as the Confederate rounds exploded overhead. Sadly, not all made it through unscathed or even alive.


A number of the men from both regiments were wounded, while Corporal William Livingston of Company C, was killed. At the time, Livingston, along with Lt. James Clark, were in a bombproof when a sixty-four pound mortar shell passed directly through and detonated. Somehow Clark survived, though he was injured; Livingston--a laborer from Port Clinton, with blue eyes and brown hair, who had enlisted in the summer of 1861--was killed instantly, giving him the dubious distinction of being the first soldier of the 48th Pennsylvania to lose his life at the outset of that final year of the war. . . .

The 48th/150th: In Fort Hell

150 years ago, the dirt-covered and weary soldiers of the 48th Pennsylvania were settling into a new 'camp,' as it were, taking up position in the fortification known as Fort Sedgwick but more often called--and more widely known--Fort Hell. Across the way--across the so-'no man's land' between the Union and Confederate trenches that the men had dubbed 'Purgatory,' and on the other side of the Jerusalem Plank Road--was Fort Mahone, or Fort Damnation, which was being held by equally ragged and weary Confederate soldiers who watched for any movement and kept things hot for the U.S. soldiers occupying Fort Hell. The 48th relieved Second Corps soldiers in the fort on November 29 and the Rebs wasted little time in welcoming them to their new quarters. Regimental historian Joseph Gould wrote that the ever-watchful Confederates "let loose to welcome our coming, to give us a house-warming. . . .They commenced early and quit late." Fort Hell itself, wrote Gould, "was a large and strongly-built structure, with bombproofs erected for the protection of the troops." These bombproofs were excavations in the ground, each seven to nine feet in depth, covered with heavy logs and tree boughs. Fort Hell did not leave a particularly strong impression on the men of the 48th, but as with everywhere else it seemed, they would grow accustomed to it. They had no other choice, really, for there, they would spend the winter of 1864-65. . .the last winter of the war.

 

Fort Hell, Petersburg
civilwarincolor
(http://civilwartalk.com/threads/fort-hell.93746/)

 

 

The distance between Fort Hell and Fort Mahone--which some called Fort Heaven--was only a few hundred yards; the picket lines on both sides were even closer--eighty yards, perhaps--and in some places soldiers in blue and gray struck a deal not to fire at each other during the day, but instead to resume it at nightfall. Gould recalled that between the opposing pickets, conversation and lively trading was kept up regularly.

 

 

Union Pickets in front of Fort Sedgwick
(Battles & Leaders)

 

 

Picket fire was one thing; shelling was another. Confederate batteries kept up a steady and sometimes deadly fire, with bombs fired by cannons and mortars plainly visible on clear days and clearly audible, especially the heavy "wobbling" sound the mortar rounds made as they traveled toward the Union camps. It did not take the men of the 48th long to discover that the bombproofs, although strongly constructed and useful as night, to sleep in, did little to stop a well-directed mortar round. Large ten-inch shells, said Gould, would cut right through the log-and-thatched roofs of the bombproofs "as a knife would penetrate butter." Watching and listening for these artillery rounds became something of a past-time for the 48th that winter. They grew accustomed to it, although there were several instances of the rounds hitting their mark.

 

Fort Sedgwick--better known as Fort Hell--was one of the most dangerous places in the lines around Petersburg. . .
. . . it was also one of the most photographed forts.

 

 

The days passed with but little activity. The men yearning, no doubt, to return home and spend the Holidays there, with their loved ones, instead of in the cold and water-filled trenches outside Petersburg, as temperatures only continued to drop as the weeks went by. They kept up-to-date with all the news and gossip; they had already cheered the news of Lincoln's reelection in November and, that December, would celebrate Sherman's successes in Georgia. But the thought foremost in their minds was when, when would this thing be over, when could they go back home, with peace struck and the nation restored. Far too many would never find out. There would still be fighting ahead, with the onset of spring and the commencement of a new, grand offensive. But that was still many months away. All the men could do was wait. . .and pray that their lives would be spared from those incessant mortars and incoming artillery rounds. Not all were so lucky. December 19 was a day on unusually "hard shelling" and one of the mortar rounds struck squarely into one of Company D's bombproofs, wounding a number of  men including young George Hartz, who succumbed the following day. Nine days later, another ten-inch mortar shell injured ten men belonging the Company K and fatally wounded Corporal John Dentzer. Another man, twenty-eight-year-old Corporal William Livingston of Company C, a laborer from Port Clinton, would be claimed just after the New Year, on January 2, 1865.

 

 

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

 

 





Image Courtesy of the Dentzer Family

Corporal John Dentzer was twenty-seven-years old when he enlisted into the ranks of Company K, 48th Pennsylvania, in January 1863. He stood 5'4" in height, with a Dark Complexion, Grey Eyes, and Dark Hair. His occupation was listed as "Seaman" and he and his brothers were first-generation Americans, whose father had immigrated to the United States, making a home in Cressona. In September 1862, John's older brother George was killed in action at Antietam.

 

Today, Brothers George and John Dentzer lie buried side-
by-side at the Cressona Cemetery.

 

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

 

Private George Hartz
(Patriotic Order Sons of America)

 

George Hartz was one of the youngest soldiers in the 48th Pennsylvania, having enlisted on April 30, 1862, at the age of sixteen. He was a student who stood 5'6" in height, with a Sandy Complexion, Grey Eyes, and Sandy Hair. Sadly, young, baby-faced George Hartz was mortally wounded in late December 1864 when a mortar round exploded in his bombproof inside Fort Hell. 

 

The Grave of Young George Hartz
Bickel's Cemetery, Ashland, PA.
(findagrave.com)