Common Men in the War for the Common Man

Dr. Verel Salmon

Description

This is the rest of the story of the men of the 145th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, at least those who survived the clean-up at Antietam and the devastation at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Letters, diaries, service, pension and medical records from the Nationl Archives, reminiscences and historical texts merge to tell the men's stories in one of the most comprehensive regimental histories written. From casualty at Bristoe Station to the Bloody Angle to Cold Harbor and Petersburg, the reality of patriotism is enmeshed in disease, death and prisons the likes of Andersonville. The soldiers' successes contribute to saving the Union, freeing the enslaved and improving the blueprint for America's special destiny.

Sujets

• Civil War Period
• Historical
• Histoire
• United States
• History
• War

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris US
• Date de parution: 01 juillet 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781796044010
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

COMMON MEN in the WAR for the COMMON MAN
BOOK II
 
The Civil War of the United States of America - History of the 145th Pennsylvania Volunteers After Gettysburg through War’s End
 
 
 
DR. VEREL R. SALMON
 
Copyright © 2019, 2020, 2022 by Dr. Verel R. Salmon.
 
Library of Congress Control Number:
2019908804
ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-7960-4399-0

Softcover
978-1-7960-4400-3

eBook
978-1-7960-4401-0

 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
 
Cover Art - This is one of several flags carried by the 145 th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (PVI) ( Advance the Colors , Capitol Preservation Committee, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1987). Imposed on the flag is the statue of a youthful soldier of the 145 th PVI at the Wheatfield, Gettysburg.
 
 
 
Rev. date: 03/10/2022
 
 
 
Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
701455
CONTENTS
ILLUSTRATIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PREFACE
Chapter 10:Near from Nowhere: Post-Gettysburg
Chapter 11:Spilled Coffee: The Bristoe Campaign and Mine Run
Chapter 12:Cold Enough to Freeze off a Cast-Iron Monkey: The Winter of 1863 at Stevensburg
Chapter 13:A Perfect Wilderness in Spotsylvania County: Wilderness and Po River
Chapter 14:The Charge through Hell Itself: Spotsylvania, the Battle
Chapter 15:“Whzzz” Comes a Bullet after Him: Cold Harbor
Chapter 16:Asking Far More of Her Than Pickett Asked of His Men: Before Petersburg
Chapter 17:Left to the Tender Mercies of the Rebels: The Andersonville Saga
Chapter 18:Officers Imprisoned: Macon, Charleston, Columbia
Chapter 19:No Time to Back down Now: The Siege at Petersburg
Chapter 20:“Cheern in Evry Directin and Drums Beeten and Firen Saluts”: Spring at Petersburg
Chapter 21:Ending the Great Work: A Nation Stronger by Their Toils
Appendix
ILLUSTRATIONS
 
BOOK II ILLUSTRATIONS
Image 1 - Eli Dunc ombe
Image 2 - Kemm and 14 5t h friends (Front, L–R: Thomas Clingan, John Clingan, George Poole, Andrew Slater; Rear, L–-R Madison Davis, William Kemm, Samuel Vernon, and Albert H enry)
Image 3 - Company A officers’ tent
Image 4 - Charles Dunc ombe
Image 5 - Capt. George Gris wold
Image 6 - Lt. Col. David B. McCr eary
Image 7 - McCreary’s t runk
Image 8 - Isaac Do rman
Image 9 - Recruitment Building/Provost Marshal’s Of fice
Image 10 - Oswell B rown
Image 11 - Oswell B rown
Image 12 - Dennis Carkhuff of Company H lost his left arm at Gettys burg.
Image 13 - John L. St reet
Image 14 - John Col lins
Image 15 - Capt. George S mart
Image 16 - Capt. John C. Hi lton
Image 17 - Theron Briggs’s envelope: letter home
Image 18 - Unknown, likely George P eete
Image 19 - Unknown sol dier
Image 20 - Hugh G. Free
Image 21 - Capt. Kimball H. St iles
Image 22 - Maj. Gen. W. S. Han cock
Image 23 - John D. B lack
Image 24 - Elias Broc kway
Image 25 - Albert Rath bone
Image 26 - Albert Rathbone as lieute nant
Image 27 - Samuel L. Go rdon
Image 28 - Edwin W. Sam pson
Image 29 - Stephen B. Gray
Image 30 - Oren Peck
Image 31 - William F. Broc kway
Image 32 - Joseph L. Linn
Image 33 - Steven Allen Os born
Image 34 - Steven Allen Osborn in later y ears
Image 35 - Francis “Frank” Menold and family pose beside their Greenville home in later y ears.
Image 36 - Charles Mer ritt
Image 37 - Nathan P. Kin sley
Image 38 - James Y oung
Image 39 - 14 5t h flag frag ment
Image 40 - Herman K. Su mner
Image 41 - Timothy Sargent’s le gacy
Image 42 - John C. Veit
Image 43 - An Andersonville POW
Image 44 - Hiram Loomis B rown
Image 45 - John C. Macin tosh
Image 46 - Lt. Thomas C. Lee
Image 47 - Capt. Mariton O. Way
Image 48 - George D. Pifer (5 3r d Regi ment)
Image 49 - James Ha mlin
Image 50 - 1 st Lt. Thomas Lee, Maj. Charles Lynch and 2 nd Lt. John C. Macin tosh
Image 51 - Diary of George Washington Sa lmon
Image 52 - James Ha rris
Image 53 - Sam and Harriet Dean in later y ears
Image 54 - Robert M ills
Image 55 - Albert Dunn col lage
Image 56 - Abel Wilki nson
Image 57 - George Washington Salmon col lage
Image 58 - Rededication of monument at Gettysburg 125 years l ater,
Image 59 - Peter Castler and James Pe llor
Image 60 - William Kemm in later y ears
Image 61 - Oscar E. Mitc hell,
Image 62 - Presumed to be Charles I rish
Image 63 - George R. McCr eary
Image 64 - John L. Sar gent
Image 65 - Josiah S mith
Image 66 - Abraham Loren Van Epps
Image 67 - Abraham Loren Van Epps in later y ears
Image 68 - Albert H enry
Image 69 - Daniel Ross iter
Image 70 - Almon T. West
Image 71 - Frederick O sler
Image 72 - Captain John Boyd Espy and his wife
Image 73 - D. W. Winchester, Quarterma ster
Image 74 - William B rown
Image 75 - J. Stiles Whilldin, sur geon
Image 76 - Isaac N. Taylor, Assistant Sur geon
Image 77 - Fletcher Clay
Image 78 - Horace M. Cook in later y ears
Image 79 - Lucius Eldredge in later y ears
Image 80 - Corporal Charles S. Stea dman
Image 81 - Alexander S awdy
Image 82 - Private Joseph M arsh
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The patience and support of my wife, Sandra, and our children, grandchildren, and extended family members has continued. Feedback on the first book from the community is heartening. Sandra remains discouraged only because, after presenting me the leg lamp from the Christmas Story television comedy, I have failed to add more romance to the book. The soldiers haven’t written about romance much beyond the feelings, which do come through in letters to their loved ones back home. It’s history, and that will have t o do.
I thank my son, Jonathan, for solving countless computer problems. I must thank my daughter, Susannah, for her work in sharpening the photographs of the soldiers that appear in both books and the contributors of those photos. I thank my niece Valerie Dutton, writer and editor, for her proofreading work. The annual pilgrimage to Civil War sites and discussions with my good friends and former fellow school administrators Dennis Libra, Ken Borland, and Fred Garnon have helped immeasurably with accuracy. William Steger and the members of the Erie Civil War Roundtable have been consistently enthusiastic and supportive. My thanks to Erie genealogist Carl Anderson for his perusal and suggested improvements on this book. My only regret is that many of the supporters and descendants of the 145 th soldiers over the many decades that this book has been developed have joined the ranks of the sold iers.
Historians and staff of the National Park Service and the National Archives have assisted in many ways over the years. Traci Chernault, park ranger, had agreed to review the Petersburg chapters for accuracy. Although his review has been lost in the return mail, he has recalled, “There were no egregious errors.” The diminished number of soldiers in the 145 th combined with the continuous activity of siege warfare, expansive geography, and occasionally vague soldier’s recollections has made these several chapters a special chall enge.
Michael Kraus, sculptor and the curator of the Soldiers and Sailors Museum in Pittsburgh, has been a valuable supporter as has been the late Brian Pohanka, Civil War expert extraordinaire. Kraus is assisting the Erie Roundtable and the Fort LeBoeuf Historical Society in developing a memorial at Waterford, Pennsylvania, the birthplace of Gen. Strong Vincent of the Pennsylvania 83 rd Regiment, hero of Little Round Top at Gettys burg.
Finally, I am indebted to my friend Patrick Knierman of the National Park Service, who is a fountain of knowledge on the men of the 145 th Regiment and their great contributions to the republic. The reader will note his initials associated with many footnotes as are the initials of Barry Davis and George Deutsch. Other research contributors and historical societies (Erie, Mercer, Corry, and Warren) are also acknowle dged.
The determination to keep the understanding of this war that so defined America must be kept in the forefront long after the great celebrations of its 150 th anniversary not long passed. May our essential history teachers use specific stories of soldiers to embellish lessons for all young Americans. May 145 th descendants find this book useful in engaging the following generations in the trials, tribulations, and contributions of their ancestors. Let’s keep our America alive and well.
PREFACE
Using new soldier reports that were not in the publication of the first book, this prologue serves as a quick review of the regiment’s path from formation in 1862 through the battle at Gettysburg. Book II chapters track the men of the 145 th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (PVI) through their travails following Gettysburg to the end of the great war.

Eli Dunc ombe
(Courtesy of Sandra M. Sa lmon)
Eli Duncombe, a prominent Wattsburg citizen was appointed at the war meeting held th