Sallie the Dog and the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers

Posted by on Oct 28, 2019 in | Comments Off on Sallie the Dog and the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers The 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment originally entered service near the beginning of  the American Civil War on April 26, 1861, as a three-month unit. Later that year, many of its soldiers reenlisted in the three-year regiment. The men of the 11th were eventually classified as veteran volunteers; they fought at Falling Waters, Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas, Antietam, Fredericks-...
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War and Tranquility: From Gettysburg to Glen with Robert Bruce Ricketts

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on War and Tranquility: From Gettysburg to Glen with Robert Bruce Ricketts The order was clear. Capt. Robert Bruce Ricketts and his two companies of artillery were to hold the Union’s left flank on East Cemetery Hill just beyond the outskirts of Gettysburg. “In case you are charged here,” Ricketts’ commanding officer Col. C.S. Wainwright told him, “you will not limber up under any circumstances, but fight your battery as long as you can.” The reality facing Ricketts on...
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Letter to Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on Letter to Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin Casualties in the American Civil War were enormous on both sides of the four-year conflict. Reuben Kemmerer (also spelled Kemerer), of Company I, 81st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, suffered wounds to his right hand during the Second Battle of Deep Bottom in August 1864. He was one of approximately 2,900 Union soldiers wounded in the engagement which took place in Henrico County, Virginia,...
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Currents

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents Both Sides Now A decade in the making, Harrisburg’s newly opened National Civil War Museum boasts nearly thirty thousand square feet of exhibition space. Situated high atop a knoll in a city park, with a commanding view of the capital city below, the museum – described by the re­gion’s press as “a world-class museum for a world-class collection” – is the first...
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George Gordon Meade (1815-1872)

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on George Gordon Meade (1815-1872) General George Gordon Meade (1815–1872) may be best known as the commander of the victorious Army of the Potomac that defeated Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the pivotal Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. Meade was born in Cadiz, Spain, the eighth of eleven children. His father, Richard Worsam Meade (1778–1828), a native of Chester County, was a wealthy Philadelphia merchant serving the...
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Out and About

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Out and About Lincoln in Lehigh More than one thousand objects relating to the nation’s sixteenth president are on view in a landmark exhibition, “Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America,” currently on view at the Lehigh Valley Heritage Center and Museum in Allentown. The exhibit highlights a number of unique and rare objects, among them the ballot box in which Lincoln cast his vote in the election of 1860...
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Exhibit: Pennsylvania’s Civil War

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Exhibit: Pennsylvania’s Civil War Recently opened by the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh is a major exhibit providing visitors with an in-depth look at Pennsylvania’s significant contributions to the Union during the American Civil War. In addition to highlighting these efforts and important conflicts such as the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania’s Civil War showcases Pittsburgh’s role as the “Arsenal of the...
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Behind the Scenes of the Allegheny Arsenal Explosion

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Behind the Scenes of the Allegheny Arsenal Explosion
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Introduction: Remembering the Civil War in Pennsylvania

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Introduction: Remembering the Civil War in Pennsylvania The American Civil War remains one of the most written about, read about, and wondered about conflicts in history. The enormity of the calamity that tore the nation apart less than a century after its founders imagined a new form of democratic republic is still difficult for us to fathom. Recent scholarship puts the death total at 700,000 or more — greater than all other American wars combined —...
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An Interview with Richard C. Saylor: The Impact of the Civil War Legacy in Pennsylvania

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on An Interview with Richard C. Saylor: The Impact of the Civil War Legacy in Pennsylvania Richard C. “Rich” Saylor, an archivist with the Pennsylvania State Archives, has been deep within the treasures that are the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) collections for nearly twenty years. He has become a highly respected expert on Pennsylvania Civil War history, research, and artifacts on behalf of the Commission. With a master’s degree in American Studies from Penn...
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