Civil War Letters Union Surgeon Pennsylvania 125th 13th Regiment 1862-1864

  

A fascinating book that collects the 16 letters of Union Army Surgeon Lafayette Butler to his 13-year-old son during his two period of military service with the Pennsylvania 125th and 13th regiments. Essential for anyone with an interest in Civil War medicine or these specific regiments.

The author - who is a descendant of Dr. Lafayette - has included significant amounts of supplementary information about the man as well as his service including contemporaneous images. Additional photos of interior pages are available on request. All letters are also reprinted as images in addition to being transcribed. Hardcover with dust jacket, published in 2021, 165 pages.

Clean pages with no readily visible underlining or writing. Warmly inscribed and signed by the author on the title page. We will respond to you within 24 hours and do our best to help you out!

The 125th Pennsylvania Infantry volunteered during the American Civil War and served a 9-month term from August 1862 to May 1863. It selected the motto In God We Trust. The Regiment fought at the Battle of Antietam under the leadership of Colonel Jacob C.

Higgins less than six weeks after being recruited in Blair, Cambria and Huntingdon Counties. The Regiment was noted for its charge through the East Woods, along the Great Cornfield, down Smoketown Road, past the Dunker Church, and into the West Woods. While in formation beyond the Dunker Church in an'overextended' position, the Regiment repulsed four counterattacks at a price of 229 casualties (33% of engaged) within 20 minutes. A fifth, heavily reinforced Confederate counterattack forced a retreat with a desperate struggle to retain the Regimental colors. Two weeks before the end of their enlistment, the 125th Pennsylvania also occupied the perimeter of Chancellorsville, Virginia, during the Battle of Chancellorsville.

As the Civil War extended into its second year, President Abraham Lincoln appealed nationally for 300,000 additional men on July 1, 1862. In response on July 21, Governor A. Curtin called for 21 new regiments from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with nine-month enlistments.

Four regiments were expected from Blair and Huntingdon Counties, and the 125th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers was recruited as ten companies from late July through early August. The Thirteenth Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment, also known as the 42nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, the 1st Pennsylvania Rifles, Kane's Rifles, or simply the "Bucktails, " was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was a part of the famed Pennsylvania Reserve division in the Army of the Potomac for much of the early and middle parts of the war, and served in the Eastern Theater in a number of important battles, including Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. The "Rifles" designation was a holdover from the days when soldiers who carried rifled weapons were a special outfit, and the Bucktails carried breech-loading Model 1859 Sharps Rifles, normally only issued to sharpshooters. The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves was mustered at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on June 21, 1861.

Kane was elected colonel, Charles John Biddle as lieutenant colonel, and Roy Stone as major. Kane, as a civilian, wanted to have Biddle, a Mexican War Veteran, be colonel instead, and a second election was held, granting Kane his wish.

The unit served as part of the Pennsylvania Reserves for the majority of its service with the Union Army. The regiment was initially issued. 69 caliber smoothbore muskets, but some of the men would not accept them, insisting that they were a rifle regiment. 58 caliber rifles and used these weapons through August 1862. The 13th Reserves were first assigned to garrison duty in Maryland.

On July 12 a scouting party under Kane of sixty men were surrounded by cavalry at New Creek Village, but fought them off, killing eight Confederates and wounding sixteen. After receiving reinforcements, Kane moved to Ridgeville which he captured after a skirmish.

In the fall, it was assigned to the V Corps of the Army of the Potomac, then serving in the Shenandoah Valley. On October 20, it marched to Dranesville, where Colonel Kane was wounded in the mouth while repulsing the Confederates. During a reorganization of the regiment in January 1862, Hugh W.

McNeil was elected colonel and Kane lieutenant colonel, with Stone remaining major. Biddle had resigned to take his place in Congress. During the Peninsula Campaign, the Pennsylvania Reserves division was assigned as part of the I Corps; only part of the regiment went to the Peninsula, Companies C, G, H, and I, under the command of Kane, remaining in the Valley. This provisional battalion fought in several battles of the 1862 Valley Campaign. During the Battle of Harrisonburg on June 6, in an attempt to rescue a Captain Haines and his wounded men of the 1st New Jersey Cavalry, the regiment held off Steuart's Brigade, including the 44th Virginia Infantry, the 58th Virginia Infantry, the 1st Maryland Infantry, CSA, and a Louisiana regiment, for an hour, killing General Turner Ashby.

Colonel Kane was captured in the retreat. They had lost 52 men, and Confederates had lost over 500. The other six companies went under Major Stone. During the retreat from Richmond, they lost one company in a swamp, then fought at Gaines Mill. Two other companies were lost during the retreat.

At the retreat to Harrison's Landing, Stone and his men constructed a bridge over a stream, possibly saving the Union army. Stone took command of a different regiment after this. After the Peninsula Campaign, the regiment served in the Northern Virginia Campaign and participated in the defense of Henry House Hill during the closing hours of the Second Battle of Bull Run.

In early September, the two battalions were re-united under the command of McNeil, who had been sick; the Pennsylvania Reserve Division, now designated as the Third Division of the I Corps of the Army of the Potomac. The regiment was rearmed with Model 1859 Sharps breechloader rifles prior to setting off on the Maryland Campaign.

At Bull Run, Kane was promoted to brigadier general for covering Pope's retreat. His position was filled by Edward Irvin. The new major was Alanson Niles.

The regiment was decimated at Antietam, losing Colonel McNeil. The new commander was Charles Frederick Taylor, who had been captured twice by Confederates. They participated in the assault on Fredericksburg. Irwin resigned from injury, and Niles became lieutenant colonel. The Pennsylvania Reserves division was severely depleted from months of campaigning and in early 1863, they were sent back to Washington D. The 13th Reserves thus did not participate in the Chancellorsville Campaign. Niles was wounded and Taylor was killed in fighting at the edge of The Wheatfield, leaving Major Hartshorn in command.

They then marched to Spotsylvania for their final battle. The regiment was mustered out of service on June 11, 1864. Those who had reenlisted as veteran volunteers were transferred to the 190th Pennsylvania Infantry. This item is in the category "Books & Magazines\Books". The seller is "2princessesbookstore" and is located in this country: US.

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1. Language: English
2. Book Title: Letters from the Front 1862-1864
3. Author: Terry Zerwick
4. Genre: History
5. Topic: Civil War