After a ten year search I have found a Civil War era photo of my great-great grandfather, Adjutant William B. Phillips of the 2nd Pennsylvania Provisional Heavy Artillery! Nothing on the back. Great signature though! It is a “carte de visite” — very common during the Civil War. He is wearing a well-tailored 9-button enlisted man’s […]
Imagine discovering that both of your sons had died prisoners-of-war in one the worst prisons operated within the Confederate States during the Civil War. While researching the pension records of members of the 2d Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery “Provisionals,” I discovered two soldiers with the last name Rathfon who came from the same location in Pennsylvania […]
Corp. John Mentzer of Co. D and his relative by marriage, Cyrus Knepper of Co. E were serving together in the 2d Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery “Provisionals” in 1864. They had survived many a battlefield in the weeks just prior to the Battle of the Crater fought outside of Petersburg, Virginia, but after this engagement — […]
William H. Scott, a resident of Lawrenceville, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, came forward after the war to testify that Pvt. Henry Alonzo Greig and he had enlisted together in Co. E, 2d Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery in 1864 and that they had known each other at least three years prior to that. He also remembered that they […]
Bad enough that Solomon R. Wayman gave his life in the service of his country but service records, burial records, and the official book of his regiment’s history didn’t even spell his surname correctly. When you look for evidence of Solomon’s service, be sure to check under the name Wagman as well as Wayman. The Civil War was […]
In the opening scene of the movie Cold Mountain, a battle scene is depicted based on the real life events of July 30, 1864 when Union forces attempted to penetrate the formidable Confederate earthworks surrounding the besieged city of Petersburg, Virginia. The breach was created by igniting explosives within a tunnel dug under the Rebel […]
George W. Nolan was the son of Joseph and Eve Ann Nolan who resided on East Washington Street in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. George enlisted as a private on February 26, 1864, for a term of three years, in Co. C, 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery. He was later promoted to sergeant and survived the war, but he […]
When Catharine Mason filed her claim for a “Mother’s Pension” following the death of her soldier son, she didn’t expect she’d have to divulge embarrassing details about her personal life just to collect her rightful benefits. From government pension records, we learn that John D. Mason was unmarried and still residing with his mother at […]
The History of the 2d Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery Provisionals, published in 1904, makes scant mention of Pvt. Robert McElrath. In the book’s roster of “unassigned men,” next to McElrath’s name appears these few words, “wounded 29 June 1864.” Unfortunately one has to dig much deeper to learn more about this soldier — a miner before […]
Army Pension No. 154761 is such a cold, impersonal way to refer to a soldier who gave his life in the service of his country, yet it is nearly all that remains of the short life of Pvt. Thomas O. Kline who died on the 4th of July from wounds received in an ill-advised Union […]
My Eyes Saw All -- in Red & Flame 