Country United States Branch Infantry | Allegiance Union | |
Active April 20 – July 27, 1861 | ||
The 1st Pennsylvania Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Contents
Early History – Three Months’ Service
April 13, 1861: Northampton County residents hold a public meeting at Easton to discuss the secession of southern states from the United States of America. Several in attendance, including Charles Heckman and Captain Samuel Yohe, begin recruiting local militia members and other volunteers willing to support and protect the federal government if needed. Yohe, the owner-operator of a local distillery, mill and store, had also served his community as an associate judge, county treasurer and prothonotary, as well as the commanding officer of the Washington Grays, a militia unit in Easton.
April 15, 1861: President Abraham Lincoln issues his call for 75,000 volunteers to defend Washington, D.C. Community leaders in Easton and neighboring cities offer the services of the local residents they had begun recruiting. Three days later, these volunteers leave their respective cities and head for Dauphin County, where they will muster in at Camp Curtin, a military training camp on Agricultural Society land in northern Harrisburg.
April 20, 1861 (day): The 1st Pennsylvania Regiment (volunteer militia) is officially organized at Camp Curtin. Yohe's Washington Grays become Company C of the regiment, and Yohe is commissioned as colonel of the regiment. Heckman's recruits are assigned to company D, and Heckman is commissioned as captain of that unit. Lehigh County native Tilghman H. Good, commanding officer of the Allen Rifles, an Allentown militia unit, is named lieutenant colonel and second in command of the 1st Pennsylvania. During the summer of 1861, Good will later go on to establish another new regiment, the 47th Pennsylvania Infantry, as the Civil War continues to ramp up. George Warren Alexander, the captain of the Reading Artillerists who will later become Good's second in command with the 47th Pennsylvania, and William H. Gausler, the captain of Allentown's Jordan Artillerists who will also join Good's 47th Pennsylvania command, are placed in charge of their recruits as they assigned, respectively, to the 1st Pennsylvania's Company G and I.
Also commissioned as officers on the 1st Pennsylvania's central command staff were Thomas W. Lynn (major) and James W. Militmore (adjutant). The regimental band, composed of musicians from the city of Lancaster, is led by Daniel Clemens.
April 20, 1861 (evening): After being equipped with muskets and twelve rounds of ball cartridge, haversacks and food rations (bacon and hard tack) and placed under the command of Brigadier General George C. Wynkoop, the members of the 1st Pennsylvania march to Harrisburg's train station, hop aboard Northern Central rail cars and head for Maryland, where they disembark near Cockeysville. Within short order, they are pulled back to York, Pennsylvania, where they remain in training at Camp Scott until May 14, 1861. At this point, they are then assigned to guard the Northern Central Railroad from Pennsylvania to Druid Park in Baltimore, Maryland.
May 25, 1861: Ordered to Catonsville, Maryland and then onward, the 1st Pennsylvania is once again assigned to guard duty – this time, protecting roads leading to Harpers Ferry and the cities of Frederick and Franklintown.
June 3, 1861: Transported back to Pennsylvania, the regiment undergoes additional training at Chambersburg before reassignment to General Patterson's army (2nd brigade, 2nd division). Ordered back to Maryland, the regiment moves between Hagerstown, Funkstown and Williamsport before occupying Frederick beginning June 22, where they continue to drill until receiving orders two weeks later to head for Martinsburg, Virginia. Moving through Boonsboro and Williamsport, the 1st Pennsylvanians ford the Potomac River, advancing toward Falling Waters and then reaching Martinsburg.
July 8, 1861: Colonel Yohe and his 1st Pennsylvanians are ordered to assume garrison duty in the vicinity of Martinsburg by F. J. Porter, A.A.G. in order to protect Union supplies and railroad lines. They stay there when the remainder of Patterson's army moves on to Bunker Hill, July 14. Two days later, they rejoin Patterson's forces at Charlestown. Ordered to Harpers Ferry on July 21, the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteers then march to Sandy Hook, hop aboard train cars on the evening of July 23, return to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and are honorably discharged. Many then promptly choose to re-enlist for three year terms of service.
According to historian Samuel P. Bates, "During the time that the regiment was in service, it did not participate in any battles; but its timely arrival in the field accomplished much good by checking any rash movement on the part of Rebels in arms along our borders. The duties it was called upon to perform were faithfully done, and its good conduct, under all circumstances, was appreciated and acknowledged by its superior officers."