Eli Crumrine Makes His Move

       

Eli Crumrine
Photograph Subject Files
American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
Annals of Wyoming, Vol. 58, p. 13, 1986

      One effect of the Civil War, an unbelievably bloody affair,  is that it gave soldiers the opportunity to experience lands and peoples with whom they would otherwise have been unfamiliar. The men in the 85th Pennsylvania, for example, traveled across the south from Virginia to Georgia and back. If they survived, they came home more worldly (and perhaps haunted) than they otherwise would have been because of this experience.

       This made it easier for many to move soon after the end of the war, often to the West to take advantage of settling on cheap farmland in states like Indiana or Nebraska. Many 85th veterans made the move to these and other states like Iowa, Missouri, Kansas. Some ventured to Oklahoma, Texas, the Dakotas and even farther away to the west coast. They were mainly young men in their 20's or early 30's in search of economic opportunity.

       Only one member of the regiment settled in Wyoming, and he relocated there more than 20 years after the war ended. [Two other 85th soldiers had connections to Wyoming, which will be explored later in this article.]  He was Eli Crumrine, a Civil War musician from East Bethlehem, Washington County, who enlisted at age 18 into Company B. His postwar journey for the far reaches of the United States came later in life when he was 43 years old. Crumrine was an established professional in banking for 20 years in western Pennsylvania with as a wife and three young children. However, his chose to head off for Laramie in Albany County, Wyoming where he spent the last 26 years of his life. 

Boyd Crumrine
Commemorative Biographical Record
of Washington County (Chicago, 1893), p.209

         Eli was one of five Crumrines associated with the 85th PA.   All five  survived the war. The other four were his cousins; only Boyd and Bishop were brothers to each other. [Bishop was turned down trying to enlist into the 85th which was full at the time. He instead joined the 4th PA Artillery] The other cousins in the 85th were Jackson and Daniel Crumrine. Following the war, Boyd Crumrine became one of the most prominent attorneys and historians in Washington County. Bishop [Topeka] and Jackson [Alton] moved to different cities in Kansas. Daniel went home to Washington County and became a farmer. Daniel lived until 1929, one of the longest living men from the regiment.

      Eli enlisted as a fife player in Company B in 1861 and eventually became part of the regimental band. On the last day of 1863, while the 85th PA was stationed on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, some new instruments arrived and the regimental band was reorganized. Historian Luther S. Dickey wrote, " Three silver fifes, eight tenor and one bass drum arrived today for the Regimental band; the re-organized band is as follows : Sergt. Samuel Woods, Company E, and Corp. Henry L. Regar, Company H, principal musicians; Robert B. Thompson, Company A, Eli Crumrine, Company B, and John Stuck, Company I, fifers; John W. Ingles, Company A, Isaiah Jordan, Company D, Daniel Swan and James McCuen, Company F, drummers." [p. 303] 

Civil War Fife Player  LOC

        Music was important in the daily life of most regiments. Any early contribution of the 85th musicians, however, was nearly catastrophic. It almost provoked a confrontation with fellow Union troops at Fort Lincoln near Washington, D.C., in late 1861. As described by Private Milton McJunkin of Company D, "“as we passed Fort Lincoln on our way to camp Casey we came very near being cut to pieces by our own men...right opposite Fort Lincoln was a very pretty place to rest and the officers [of the 85th] told the drummers to give the boys the long roll which is invariably to arms[.] it was not 2 seconds until we had 4 pieces of artillery leveled on us, and our colors was all that saved us from being tore all to smash[.]” [The Bloody 85th by Patrick Schroeder, Ronn Palm and Richard Sauers, 2000, p.9]

      The soldiers in Fort Lincoln, hearing what they thought was an attack cadence, nearly mistook the 85th for Confederates. From then on, the music provided by the musicians of the 85th conformed to military standards. 

         Besides sounding out camp orders, musicians also performed impromptu concerts in camp. [A list of Civil War marching songs can be found here.] The Kennedy Center website states that Civil War musicians could be divided into two general categories: field musicians and members of regimental bands.

     "Field musicians included the fife-and-drum corps with the marching units and the buglers that accompanied both the cavalry and the infantry. These musicians marked the activities of daily wartime life, including wake up, lights-out, roll call, and drills. The music also helped organize the movement of the troops and even conveyed combat orders to soldiers, who were trained to recognize these commands..."

      "Larger [regimental] bands performed as commanding officers inspected and addressed the troops; they would also present regular concerts and entertain soldiers in camp. The bands helped maintain morale and reinforce spirit and resolve. Musicians also did whatever was needed--staffed ambulances, tended wounded, and even fought as the war raged on."

Lemuel Thomas headstone
Hampton (VA) National Cemetery
Contributed by Ron Stewart
findagrave.com

       For one 85th musician, 24-year old Lemuel Thomas of Company C, helping wounded soldiers during the Battle of Second Deep Bottom in Virginia in August of 1864 cost him his young life. Regimental historian Luther S. Dickey wrote, "Musician Lemuel Thomas of Company C, was on duty with Surgeon [Samuel] Kurtz of the Regiment assisting in caring for the wounded. Surgeon Kurtz was standing with an arm resting against a tree when a cannon ball from a battery of the enemy ricocheted, striking the heel of his shoe and then bounded to the head of Musician Thomas, fracturing his skull from which he died the following day. Although painfully wounded by the enemy's missile Surgeon Kurtz remained on duty." [p.355]

       Most aspiring soldiers like Eli from East Bethlehem joined Company D of the 85th PA. Eli, however, joined Company B, perhaps to be with his cousin, Boyd, who hailed from Washington City. Ironically, Boyd's time in the 85th PA was brief. After being promoted to quartermaster of the entire regiment, Boyd transferred to another regiment where he spent most of the remainder of his service posted at Fort Delaware, a prison-of-war camp for Confederates and northern lawbreakers.

       The only wartime primary source we have from Eli is a letter he wrote home near the end of his three-year enlistment to a local newspaper describing camp polling numbers for the presidental election of 1864. It was the first time absentee voting was allowed. Some states like Pennsylvania allowed soldiers to vote in the field. Other states required the soldiers to return home in order to vote. Overall, the vote of soldiers was 4-1 in favor of Abraham Lincoln's re-election bid over George McClellan.

Pennsylvania soldiers voting in camp 1864
Harper's Weekly, 10-29-1864

       Eli wrote, "On yesterday, the 39th Regiment of Illinois volunteers held an election, also the 11th Maine held one and the results are a fair sample of the whole army. The 39th polled 150 votes in all; out of these 135 were for Lincoln...The 11th polled 362 votes in all; out of these 281 were for Lincoln. These results plainly show that Father Abraham will yet reside another four years at the White House. God grant that he may. The 85th will go for Old Abe." [Washington (PA) Observer and Reporter, October 26, 1864, p.2]

       So long after the war ended, why would an established middle-aged man pick up his family and move to a relatively remote part of the county? 

Albany County (Wyoming) National Bank in Laramie
Courtesy of Albany County Historical Society

       First, however, the question arises as to how the new bank in Wyoming even became aware of a cashier in Brownsville, PA. A news story helped answer that question. "His [Eli's] first employment was with the First National Bank of Brownsville, later with the Second National Bank. The capital which organized the Albany County National bank in Wyoming included men behind the Scranton banks of Pennsylvania, and hence Mr. Crumrine was made cashier of the Laramie bank upon its organization...the appointment being the occasion for his coming to [that] state." [Wyoming Semi-Weekly Tribune, February 26, 1909, p.4]

         Eli took a trip to the West in 1885, the year before he made the move permanent, presumably to visit Laramie and get a feel for his future life. He discovered a remote yet growing community with beautiful vistas and plenty of opportunities to make money. Laramie, founded in 1868 as a boisterous railroad town, was undergoing significant growth at the time of Eli's arrival, from a population of 2,600 in 1880 to 6,400 ten years later. [Laramie has grown in every decade since then and today has a population today of over 30,000.]

Old Main,  U. of Wyoming      Built in 1886    LOC

       Laramie's growth in the mid-1880's was due mainly to the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1868. Prior to the railroad, Benjamin Holladay's Overland Trail for stage coaches and wagons passed through the Laramie Plains. In the late 1860's and early 1870's, Laramie was a raucous town, vexed by Native American raids, unpunished thievery and rowdy behavior. But by the time of Crumrine's arrival in Laramie in 1886,

      Jane Nelson, the president of the Albany County Historical Society, said, "Laramie was trying very hard to become a viable city. It had an opera house, three or four hotels, The Albany County Bank was its third bank and the first to have full electricity." She added that the University of Wyoming opened in 1886, further enhancing the reputation of the city.  Ms. Nelson also noted that Wyoming was forward-thinking in the area of womens' rights. Women were already allowed to serve on juries, and women's suffrage was enacted in 1869, fifty years before the passage of the 19th amendment on a national level.

        Prior to the arrival of the railroad, a former member of Company B of the 85th Pennsylvania, 28-year old Robert P. Hughes, (at that time a captain in the 18th U.S. Infantry) wrote a letter from Fort Laramie (located a hundred miles northest of the city of Laramie) in 1867 to a friend in his hometown of Canonsburg, PA. Firt Laramie was 188 miles northest of Laramie City and was founded in 1834 as a trading post. It soon became a well-known military post. Hughes enlisted in the Civil War as a private and retired in 1903 as a major general.

Robert P. Hughes
Wyoming State Archives

      "The Indians have not been able to operate much thus far since Spring, for the snow thawing in the Mountains has kept the streams so high that they have been unable to cross them without great difficulty. They have succeeded in catching a few [stage] coaches on the Overland Mail Route and also a few small parties of soldiers."

       "I am almost ashamed to be one of the actors in the scene. But our greatest battles now are with the mosquitoes and Buffalo Gnats. They come down on us at all hours and they do not use either Modern Tactics or maneuver or logistics but seem to me to move in the old Roman Style by Phalanxes and they make us scratch our heads quite seriously to determine how to flank them."

       "We have some peculiarities here. We have beautiful lightning every night, but we suffer for it in heat the next day. We have the most beautiful Sunsets I ever saw. The Sun will hide behind one of the Buttes and leave the whole western horizon a blace of fire." ["Loneliness, Sand and Sunsets: News from Ft. Laramie, August 13, 1867," Wyoming State Archives]

          After the railroad arrived, a letter from a Laramie visitor to a friend in Pennsylvania in 1878 was typical in spreading word on this up-and-coming city.

1882 Traveler's Railroad Guide

            "To my surprise, I found thousands of acres of land [in Wyoming] that are irrigated and good crops of wheat, oats and barley have been raised along this line of railroad. Left Cheyenne and soon looked down upon that vast grassy amphitheatre, the Laramie Plains...the hundreds of square miles of pasture lands and arable valleys lie in full view. 

         "In the midst of these plains and on the south side of the Laramie river is the city of the same name. It is distant from Omaha 572 miles, altitude 7,123 feet. It contains a population of 2,500 souls. The only rolling mills in operation between the Missouri River and the Pacific Coast are located here...the Union Pacific Company has also extensive machine shops and round houses here...A public school house is nearly completed...There are some very handsome buildings, blocks and private residences built of brick and some large wholesale and retail business houses. Water is conveyed to the town through iron pipes from a spring 3 miles north of town."

       "The Laramie Plains contain nearly 3,000,000 acres of winter and summer grazing lands....Over 40,000 head of stock are grazing this region...Most of the Ranchmen have from 640 to a couple thousand acres fenced...The ranch house that I am now writing from is genteel, nice and clean, three rooms carpeted and contains some nice walnut furniture. I merely state these facts for the reason that nearly all  Eastern persons that have not visited the Stock Ranches of the Laramie Plains naturally suppose that they all sleep with loaded seven-shooters under their heads, a double-barreled shotgun in each corner of the house, and are regular devils and cuthroats." [Valley Spirit, Chambersburg, PA, October 23, 1878, p.2]

        The writer of the above paragraph, Charles C. Clugston, moved to Wyoming within two years and with his business partner established a settlement near Laramie.

         Financially, the move to Wyoming in 1886 was a wise decision for Eli Crumrine. He was the Albany County Bank's cashier for eight years and was then promoted to vice-president. He was able to acquire a ranch on the outskirts of town and had other holdings. His estate was worth well over $50,000 when he passed away 24 years later.

        Crumine also played an active role in the growth of his new community. He helped arrange a donation from Andrew Carnegie 1902 to build a free county library in Albany (becoming a member of its board of trustees), was active the local Grand Army of the Republic of Union veterans and served for several terms in the Wyoming state senate. 

        Considering the 1,500 mile distance and arduous travel involved, it is noteworthy that Crumrine returned home to western Pennsylvania at least three times to attend regimental reunions, in 1890 and 1909, both in  Uniontown, and in 1910 at Rogersville, Greene County. 

1910 Reunion of the 85th PA
Rogersville, PA  Courtesy of Greene Connections

          Unfortunately, Crumrine became ill with pneumonia on his way home from the 1910 reunion and died one day after returning to Laramie. His wife, Mary, traveled to Denver and accompanied him home on the last leg of his journey. Eli was a long-time asthma sufferer, but his health had improved in the summer months, allowing him to return to Pennsylvania for the reunion. He was 67 years of age when he died. He was succeeded at the Albany County Bank by his son-in-law, Charles Spalding.

Crumrine Home
Courtesy of Albany County Historical Society

         Just a few months before his death in 1910, Crumrine received the endorsement of a newspaper back home in Washington County in case he decided to run for governor of his adopted state. "For a long time, we have heard the rumor that Hon. Eli Crumrine of this city might be one of the candidates for the nomination for governor of Wyoming before the next Republican state convention...Of course this newspaper wants the next governor of Wyoming to be a Democrat...but if there is to be a Republican, we are for the Laramie candidate first, last and all the time." [Washington (PA) Reporter, April 23, 1910, p.6]

Eli Crumrine Death Certificate

             The third member of the 85th PA regiment with a connection to Wyoming is Sergeant Marquis Lafayette "Mark" Gordon of Company G who hailed from Waynesburg in Greene County. The current governor of Wyoming is also named Mark Gordon. He is the great grandson of Marquis Lafayette Gordon.

    

Lieutenant John Wishart Acheson

 

Lieutenant John W. Acheson
The Progessive Men of the Commonwealth of PA, Vol. 1, 1900, p. 269

         Lieutenant John Wishart Acheson was an ambitious, intelligent and courageous soldier. He survived the war but died shortly afterwards at the young age of 34. Nonetheless, the accomplishments of Acheson and his brothers as a members of various Union regiments are noteworthy.

      Lieutenant John Wishart Acheson of the 85th PA was the first son of Judge Alexander Wilson Acheson, a prominent member of the Little Washington community in western Pennsylvania

Judge Alexander W. Acheson
Commemortive Biographies of Washington County 1893

       Judge  Acheson was born in Philadelphia, but his parents hailed from Washington County. Young A.W. Acheson went to college in western Pennsylvania and remained in Washington, PA ("Little Washington") until his death over seven decades later.

     Just before passing away in 1890, Judge Acheson recalled a memory from his childhood. Mr. Acheson remembered from nearly 80 years beforehand, "One of my earliest recollections was when school took a recess to see the soldiers pass through town on their return from the War of 1812. Of that band of children which gathered on the pavement, I am probably the only one now living. The company which passed was the 'Ten Mile Rangers.' A black horse, which had belonged to one of their officers who was killed at Niagara Falls [also known as Lundy's Lane], was led in front. That must of have been in the fall of 1814." [Washington Semi-Weekly Reporter, July 12, 1890, page 6]

     Military service would become a very important in the lives of Judge Acheson's children. Judge Acheson himself did not have a military career. He was admitted to the bar in 1832. He served four terms as district attorney before becoming a regional county judge in 1866 and spent 23 years on the bench. Politically he began as a Democrat, although he switched to the Republican Party in the years just prior to the Civil War. 

     Besides John, his eldest child, Judge Acheson had four other sons who served in the Union army during the Civil War. John Acheson was very ambitious for promotion during his three-plus years in the army. He knew the best way to advance was to show coolness, fortitude and leadership in battle, which he often displayed. He also seemed to have the political connections that would assure his furtherance in military.

     However, John became frustrated that his path to higher rank was proceeding slowly or maybe was blocked. This may have been due to political reasons, as Colonel Joshua B. Howell of the 85th PA was a member of a different political party. Acheson was a strong supporter of Howell early in the war but the relationship soured and John eventually transferred out. John's rise may also have been blocked for health reasons, which will be explored below. 

      However, John Acheson's patriotism, capability and bravery were above question. He came from one of the elite families of Little Washington, but he and his brothers displayed a sense of noblesse oblige regarding the war. John proved to be an effective leader while under fire. He was wounded three times, a testament to his commitment to the Union cause and to those who served under him.

     Following the war, John's life was cut short due to various addictions, including alcohol. Perhaps these dependencies came from his war service and difficulty in overcoming his physical wounds. Some soldiers also turned to the bottle out of boredom or due to the horrors of the battlefield. John's death came in 1872. This was ironic because his father was a strong advocate of the temperance movement throughout his political career.

       John Acheson graduated from Washington College (later Washington and Jefferson University) in 1857 and was a language instructor for several years before studying to become a lawyer. But he quickly enlisted a few days after Fort Sumter fell in 1861 into the 12th PA infantry for three months along with his brother, David. Their company was commanded by Colonel Norton McGiffin, who would later become the lieutenant colonel of the 85th PA. The 12th regiment, a three-month unit, saw no action at the First Battle of Bull Run in July of 1861. They were instead tasked to guard a railroad near York, Pennsylvania before disbanding. 

     While two brothers, David and Alexander "Sandie," soon joined the 140th PA, John enlisted for three years into Company A of the 85th Pennsylvania. 

      David Acheson became the captain of Company C of the 140th PA. On the second day of fighting at the Battle of Gettysburg, Captain Acheson was killed near Stoney Hill when engaged against a South Carolina regiment. His remains were later recovered after the battle and buried near the Weikert Farm. Near his gravesite, his company placed a small boulder and carved his initials, "D.A" into the stone along with "140th P.V." David Acheson was 22 years old. His body was eventually brought home and buried in Little Washington.

 

Captain David Acheson and the Gettysburg boulder marking his temporary grave
History of the 140th Regiment Pennsylvania, R.L. Stewart, 1912, P.124-5

        David Acheson was succeeded as the captain of Company C by his younger brother, Sandy. Sandy Acheson was shot in the face (but survived) at the Battle of Spotsylvania in 1864.

    

Sandy Acheson
History of the 140th PA 

Sandy became a doctor following the war, moved to Texas and died at the age of 91 in 1934.

      A fourth brother, Marcus "Mark" Acheson, was born in 1844 and enlisted into the 58th PA infantry in 1863, one day before his brother David was killed at Gettysburg. Marcus spent a few weeks in this three-month regiment and was mustered out in mid-August. 

Joseph M. Acheson
Progressive Men of PA

      A fifth son, Joseph, enlisted into Knapp's Battery in 1864 at the age of 16. He contracted malaria during his four months of service that troubled him for the rest of his life. He died at the age of 38 in Fairfield, Iowa. 

Ernest Acheson
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/ernest_acheson/400681

      Another brother, Ernest, was 10 years old when the war ended, too young for military service. Ernest later served for 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

      In 1986, librarian and local historian Jane Fulcher (1916-2005) published a collection of letters entitled "Family Letters in a Civil War Century." In her book, Ms. Fulcher, Ernest Acheson's granddaughter,  included about 20 letters written by John Acheson during the war.

[Note: All of the quotations below are from "Family Letters In a Civil War Century: Achesons, Wilsons, Brownsons, Wisharts and Others of Washington, Pa.", Jane Fulcher, Avella, PA, 1986.]

      Nine days after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, John Acheson heeded President Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers and enlisted into the 12th PA. From Pittsburgh, Acheson wrote, "I cannot describe to you the excitement that exists here...the people are wild, crazy...The military spirit of our state seems thoroughly aroused. Companies of volunteers are continually passing through the city en route to Harrisburg." [Page 299]

     After his brief enlistment in the 12th PA expired, John joined Company A of the 85th PA. Part of the reason may have been Colonel Howell, who organized the 85th, was a personal friend of Judge Acheson, which John Acheson probably hoped would benefit his pathway to promotion. 

      With his younger brother David already a captain of his own company, John yearned to be an officer as well. He wrote, "I am willing and anxious to join the army if I can secure a position. I do not believe it to be my duty to enter the service for three years as a private, nor will I do it." [Page 305]

Professor Thaddeus Lowe in His Balloon
Virginia Peninsula, 1862
Library of Congress

        During the Peninsula Campaign in 1862, Lieutenant Acheson led his company in helping Professor Thaddeus Lowe launch his observation balloon near Warwick Court House in Virginia. [Author's note: I have attended two presentations on Lowe's balloon and asked the speakers if they knew of any specific regiment that is recorded for helping Lowe. Both presenters noted the 85th PA had performed this duty.]

      Despite his reservations, it does appear John Acheson joined the 85th regiment as a private. Within the next six months, though, he won a series of promotions and became a 1st lieutenant in August of 1862. He had distinguished himself at the Battle of Seven Pines in Virginia, where he led his company and received two wounds in the wrist and leg. 

       In mid-1862, he asked his father to intervene to help him secure a commission as the permanent captain of Company A due to the medical resignation of Harvey Vankirk. "I think if anyone has claims on the Colonel for the captaincy of Company A, I have. I have shared its dangers and privations and was always with them no matter what duty was to be performed. Col. Howell knows all of this, and for this reason, he promised the captaincy should be mine. His conduct in the matter is very strange."  [Page 311] John Acheson was not named captain of Company A; the position instead went to William W. Kerr.

      A year later, David Acheson was killed and another younger brother, Sandie was voted to become the captain of David's old company in the 140th PA. John, still a lieutenant, wrote the following to his father in early 1864 from Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. Once an ardent supporter of his colonel, Joshua B. Howell, John Acheson became more and more incensed at his commanding officer for preventing his advancement in the 85th.

      "I would like to get a transfer to General [Absalom] Baird in order to show Colonel Howell that my success as an officer did not depend on his toadies. This is all the triumph I want....I can serve the balance of my term as First Lieutenant cheerfully, but I do not like to see men who have little or no qualification outstrip me." 

      "I want you to fully understand that your former friendship with Colonel Howell will not weigh a feather with him. He is a weak, vain, ambitious man, and insensible to everything that does not tend directly to further his prospects for a Brigadier Generalship...I long for the opportunity to show him that however regardless he may be to my interests, I have friends at home who are just as able as he to secure my position." [Page 313]

     Execution       Harper's Weekly

    While stationed in South Carolina, John earned the ire of General Quincy Gillmore, the commander of the Department of the South, for a clerical error during the court-martial of three soldiers from the 10th Connecticut who were slated for execution due to desertion. Two of the men were hanged, but a third stayed alive because his name was misspelled on the official record of the court matial. Gillmore was most upset and blamed Acheson for the oversight.

      Acheson was perhaps a bit nonchalant in the performance of this duty because he had already accepted a position with General Absalom Baird, a division commander in the western theater who happened to hail from Little Washington. With this unit, Acheson would participate in Sherman's March to the Sea. From Jonesboro, Georgia, in 1864, where he was wounded, John wrote, "General Baird was in the thickest of the melee. This end of the Confederacy is about caved in. Atlanta is ours. I will embrace the first opportunity to write you a long letter." [Page 317]

      Once Sherman's Army captured Savannah, Georgia on the Atlantic Ocean, they headed due north through South Carolina [see map below]. Two weeks before the end of the war, John wrote, "On the South Carolina side [of Savannah], huge torpedoes [land mines] had been placed in the mud. Little injury was done by them. Two or three soldiers had their legs blown off, but that was about all. But how silly was this conduct of the chivalrous citizens of the Palmetto State! Our soldiers swore revenge and every man supplied himself with an extra bunch of matches. Day after day while marching along the road past burning dwellings, barns and out-houses, the line of march of other columns might be discerned by the dense masses of black smoke darkening the heavens on every side. South Carolina, which hitherto has suffered so little from the war, has been terribly punished for her folly and crime." [Page 320]

David A. Scott, A School History of the U.S., NYC, Am. Book Co., 1884, p.371

       John Acheson was promoted to the rank of brevet major before his military career ended. He had studied before the war to become a lawyer but turned afterwards to a medical career, earning his degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1868. He could not, however, overcome his various addictions and died just seven years after the war ended.

     Only three days before his death, his brother Sandie wrote to their mother, "I have received a letter from Sadie [Sandie's wife] stating that John is seriously ill...If you think it best, and he is willing to come [home], he must make one vow before he starts and that is 'never to touch tobacco again.' If he'll do that, the alcoholic tendency can be controlled and the opium will not be so harmful or may be broken off. But if he persists in using tobacco, he will be liable to the day of his death to fits of depression (a result of the tobacco) which he cannot control and which will compel him to resort to stimulants. His only safety lies in quitting tobacco." [Page 332]

      John Acheson is buried in the Washington Cemetery in Little Washington, PA. 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/157037892/john-wishart-acheson

Billy the Cook

 

LOC

      During the Civil War, Colonel Joshua Blackwood Howell had several personal assistants who attended to his needs in the field. Some were military personnel, like his aide, Lieutenant George A. Edson of the First Massachusetts Cavalry. Edson was with Howell in the summer of 1863 on Morris Island, near Charleston, South Carolina, when a Confederate shell scored a direct hit on the bombproof from which Howell was directing trench-digging operations. Howell was knocked unconscious and buried under a pile of rubble. Edson immediately pulled Howell out from under the debris and took him to a hospital, thus saving his life. 

       Another attendant known only as "Sam," an African-American who served as Howell's valet during the war. It is not known how Sam and Howell met; most likely, it was during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign in Virginia when the 85th regiment met many displaced former slaves. It was Sam who led a riderless horse during Howell's military funeral procession in September of 1864.

       The following description of Howell's funeral is from Luther S. Dickey's official 1915 history of the 85th Pennsylvania.

"On the 17th, the Regiment was temporarily relieved from duty at Fort Morton, and escorted the  remains of the Colonel from the brigade hospital to division headquarters.  The ambulance that served  as a hearse was immediately followed by 'Old Charley,' led by 'Sam,'  a faithful negro servant of the  deceased. 'Old Charley'  the horse was then aged about ten years, and had accompanied the Regiment  from Camp LaFayette, Uniontown, Penna., in November, 1861. He had been presented to Col.  Howell  while he was recruiting the Regiment by Jasper Thompson, Esq.,  of Uniontown, who had been a  staunch friend and admirer of the Colonel...'Old  Charley'  [was not the] horse  that  caused the  fatal mishap; [it was] a horse that had belonged to Capt. Loomis L. Langdon, 1st  U.S.  Artillery. On account  of some infirmity of  'Charley,'  the  Colonel considered him unsafe to ride at night, and therefore had replaced him by the horse responsible for his death, and  'Sam' is the authority for the statement that this horse had a bad reputation as being vicious and tricky among the members of Capt. Langdon's battery, information he  acquired after the fatal accident. However, Capt. Langdon's  description of the horse is perhaps the  most trustworthy; that 'it was exceedingly tender-mouthed.'  Capt. Langdon was a warm friend and admirer of Col. Howell, and according to his statement, had presented the horse to the Colonel some time previous to the fatal occurrence, the latter having expressed a liking for the animal."

Colonel Joshua B. Howell
From L.S.Dickey's 1915 History of the 85th Pennsylvania

     A third personal  attendant, the subject of this article, was William C. Chism. Chism was born around 1838 or 1839 and died in 1910 at the age of 70. The historical record of his life is quite sparse, but this article intends to explore what is known about Chism and speculate about the role he played in Howell's life.

     The only reference to Chism in Dickey's history of the 85th Pennsylvania is found on page 308. The date is February 23, 1864. The regiment has just returned to Hilton Head, South Carolina from Whitemarsh Island, near Savannah Georgia. This one-day amphibious operation was to conviscate around 300 African American slaves who were building defensive positions for the Confederates in the area around Savannah.

      The expedition, led by Howell and involving parts of several other regiments, started well enough. His two groups of assaulters swept through the island but were stopped by an unknown Confederate battery that had just been built on the other side of a bridge to Oatland Island. The 85th PA became pinned down and the Confederates maintained the bridge as a possible avenue for re-enforcements.

Whitemarsh Island
February 22, 1864     Map Courtesy of Craig Swain

    Howell's forces were forced to scurry back to their transports. No one in Howell's unit was killed, athough three men (Captain John E. Michener, Corporal James Bailey and Private Eli Shellenberger) were captured. 

    This reference to Chism in Dickey's regimental history picks up the story once the men returned to Hilton Head the next day. 

"The Regiment disembarked and arrived in camp at Hilton Head at 1 a.m.; the men were immediately  dismissed and were permitted to rest in camp the entire day; it was discovered that  the Colonel's cook, William Chism, known in camp as 'Billy  the Cook,'  was missing, left on Whitemarsh Island."

      The loss of Chism through probable capture or possible desertion is curious and leads to a series of questions to which the author could find no answers.

1. Since the expedition was intended to be a one- or two-day affair, was it really necessary for Howell to bring his personal cook along? Did Chism provide other personal services to Howell other than food preparation?

2. If Chism were captured that day, what was he doing off the transport Mayflower, Howell's flagship? There doesn't appear to be any reason for him to disembark or not stay close to the ship. Howell stayed either on the boat or close to the shore during the operation. Chism was not listed as having been with Michener and the others when they were captured, so if he were in fact taken prisoner, it had to have been in a separate incident.  

3. Did Chism desert to the enemy? This seems unlikely. Chism seems to have been a lifelong resident of the North with no known ties to the Confederacy. Even if he did desert, why would be abandon a somethat cushy job of cooking Howell's meals?

Captain John E. Michener

   It should also be mentioned that in 1867, the aforementioned Captain John E. Michener, one of the three soldiers from the 85th Pennsylvania captured on White Marsh Island, wrote a brief but detailed treatise (along with author T.J. Simpson) of his war experiences called "Prison Life." Michener wrote of his own capture along with Bailey and Shellenberger on Whitemarsh Island and their subsequent moves to prisoner-of-war camps. Michener made no mention of Chism.

      There is no other found government reference to Chism's life until the 1890 Veterans Schedule, a special census of Civil War soldiers. Chism, around 50 at the time, is listed as being a member of Company C of the 85th Pennsylvania. This came from Chism himself, who may have been passing himself off as a mustered-in soldier. But no other roster of regimental members has Chism listed as being a soldier of the regiment. Of course if Chism travelled with the regiment for two years and was captured during a military engagement, he probably felt he had the right to feel he was a legitimate member of the regiment.

    The 1890 Veteran's Schedule states that Chism joined the regiment in May of 1862. Although there is no record of Chism's enlistment, this could be true. Again, this was during the Peninsula Campaign as "Sam" had probably done. Chism, who was white, was therefore in Virginia for an unknown reason. Howell and Chism could also have first crossed paths in western Pennsylvania during training camp, or in Washington, D.C. where the regiment was stationed for four months.

         The Veteran Schedule has two other interesting notations. One is that although it is stated that Chism "mustered in" to the regiment in May of 1862, there is no muster-out date listed, only that Chism's regimental records are under the heading of "papers lost." This notation is not unheard of in the Veterans Schedule. Several other former soldiers in 1890 did not have documentation, usually due to memory issues or perhaps a fire that destroyed personal records in the 25 years since the war ended.

    In Chism's case, however, it may be that he had no documentation to start with, due to his apparent role as a non-military personal assistant. Although Chism was with Howell during many battles, he likely told the examiner that he lost his papers when such papers never actually existed.

    The second interesting notation in the Veterans Schedule regarding Chism is listed as a side note. This was usually written on the line on the form in which the examiner listed any Civil War maladies that came from the soldier's war service, such as an amputation, heart troubles, etc.

    For Chism, the doctor simply wrote, "nine months in prison."

   This claim again came from Chism. It would suggest, in a very tenuous way, that he indeed was captured on Whitemarsh Island in 1864. However, I could find no record of his release anywhere among Union POW records. This may mean that he had convinced the Confederates that he was not a soldier and became more of a political prisoner. He may also have been used for his specialty -- preparing meals -- for Confederate officers or privates the way captured Union doctors were put to use by southern armies when they were confined. 

       Here is an article that appeared in a Gloucester County, New Jersey newspaper in 1885 that has some interesting claims regarding Chism's relationship with Colonel Howell.

       The 85th Pennsylvania did indeed fight at Kinston, North Carolina in December of 1862. It was during a two-week foray called the Goldsboro Expedition that a Union strike force of 12,000 soldiers attempted to disrupt the Confederate supply chain into Virginia. But if Chism were captured on Whitemarsh Island and held for nine months, he would have been released around November of 1864. Colonel Howell died as the result of a fall from his horse two months earlier in September of 1864. This raises several more questions.

1. If Chism were accurate about he period of confinement, he was not with Howell when he died in September of 1864. How would he know, as the article stated, that the Colonel used the North Carolina law book as his pillow "until the time of his death."?

2. If Chism were in prison when Howell died, how would he have acquired the law book from among Howell's personal possessions, assuming they were sent back to his adopted home in Uniontown, PA to his family or to his boyhood home in New Jersey with his body for burial?

3. Would Colonel Howell have really used a law book to rest his head upon at night for over two years during the war? It seems a book would have made an exceptionally hard surface to try to sleep on. 

         In  reviewing census records, it was unusually difficult to otherwise track Chism's life. It does not appear that Chism ever married or had children. There were many William Chism's among the census records of the late 1800's, although most lived in the South. Chism was only found in the 1890 Veterans Schedule because of the reference to the 85th PA. 

          A decade later, according to the 1900 census, Chism may have been employed as a coachman for soap manufacturer Emma M. Thomson and her family in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This census, however, states that Chism and his parents were all born in Pennsylvania. The next year, he seems to appear as a gardener in a city directory for Atlantic City. 

        Chism does appear ten years later in the 1910 U.S. Census, This was also the year of his death. Chism at this time lived in Deptford, Gloucester County, New Jersey, which is only two miles from where Howell was raised in Woodbury. Howell also was buried in Woodbury. .

      In the 1910 census, it is stated both Chism and his parents were born in New Jersey. This connection could be a clue regarding Chism's employment by Howell during the war.

      [There is also a hint in the 1860 federal census that Howell and Chism may have met at the start of the war. This census, lists a 23-year old carpenter from Pittsburgh (who was born in Pennsylvania) named William Chism. At least one company of men trained in the Pittsburgh area before joining the 85th Pennsylvania at their base camp in Uniontown, Fayette County. This could be the connection between Chism and the 85th regiment.]

      Under occupation in the 1910 census, it is stated that that elderly Chism was a military veteran living on his own and was a "private pensioner." Could Chism have been granted a personal endowment by the Howell family for his loyal service during the Civil War? Did the Howell family employ Chism after the war, since he at least in his final years lived near the Howell family in New Jersey?

      The author was looking forward to answering some of these questions when he began this enquiry. But his investigation has only led to more questions. If Chism were a loyal servant who was captured by the Confederates while serving his mentor during the Civil War and was rewarded for it with a "personal pension" from the Howell family after the war, it would have been nice to find confirmation of such a relationship. 

     Here is a picture of Chism's headstone in the Almonesson United Methodist Church Cemetery in Gloucester County, New Jersey.

        

   

Milton Chase Writes a Letter Home

Milton B. Chase of Company E, 85th PA
Courtesy of Sherry (Chase) Reinhardt

   When the war began, the 85th had a number of reliable chroniclers whose writings became valuable primary source material in telling the story of their regiment. For example, Lieutenant Colonel Henry A. Purviance was part-owner of the Washington (PA) Tribune and Reporter and wrote half a dozen lengthy letters that were published in his own newspaper.

    Likewise, Private Robert Roddy was the brother of Edward Roddy, who owned the Genius of Liberty newspaper in Uniontown. Roddy's letters appeared every few months in his brother's newspaper.

   Most soldiers of course wrote letters home to family members, some of which have survived. Other soldiers in the regiment penned letters that were published in newspapers around western Pennsylvania and even Wheeling, West Virginia. These soldiers included  Lieutenant John Acheson, Private John F. McCoy, Captain John E. Michener, Corporal George W. Dales and others.

   But by the end of 1864, the number of potential sources in the 85th PA had dwindled. Purviance was killed by friendly fire, Roddy went home with a medical discharge, and Michener was captured by the enemy, Acheson transferred to another command, and McCoy and Dales went home when their three-year enlistment ended.

  Only about 150 men were left in the regiment by the end of 1864, those who had joined in 1862 or later or those who had re-enlisted. The pool of potential sources was limited.

   One newspaper from the Civil War era that survives is the Washington Reporter and Tribune, found online in the Google News Archives. Unlike some other online newspaper sources that require a fee, this archive is free. The catch is that there is also no reliable search button. One must look through each edition page by page in the hope of finding information.

   So I went to the newspaper and began in November of 1864, scanning each weekly edition for a potential letter from the front, or perhaps something written by a returned soldier.

    Low and behold, eventually a letter from an 85th PA soldier appeared. It was on page 1 of the Reporter and Tribune from February 8, 1865. It was written by a soldier still in the regiment who called himself 'M.B.C." His identify was easy to find. Of the remaining men in the regiment, only Private Milton B. Chase of Company E had that set of initials.

   Chase was 31 years of age at the time. A native of Washington County, PA, he was married and living in Iowa when the war broke out. After serving for three months in an Iowa regiment, he decided to go home to enlist for three more years, joining Company E of the 85th PA, which had many men from Washington County, PA. He enlisted into the regiment in April of 1862, which meant he still had a few months to serve when he wrote the following letter in 1865.  Chase worked as a teacher before and after the war, which indicates why his letter seems to be fairly well written.

   Milton went home in December of 1865 from City Point, VA and was reunited with his wife, Margaret Franks Chase, whom he had married in Iowa in 1855. The growing family soon moved from one side of the Mississippi River to the other to live in  Hampton, Illinois. Unfortunately, Chase did not enjoy a long postwar life. On April 25, 1874, he ws killed in a coal mine cave-in. Chase was buried in the Old Rapid City Cemetery in Rapid City, Rock Island County, Illinois. He was survived by his wfie, Margaret, and four children. A fifth child, Margaret, was born two months after his death.

Moline [Illinois] Review-Dispatch  May 1, 1874, page 2

    His Civil War letter, written on January 25, 1865 from the camp of the 85th PA just below Richmond on the north side of the James River, first gives a review of the regiment's activities for the last nine months. These include the Bermuda Hundred Campaign, the Battle of Second Deep Bottom, the Battle of Chaffin's Farm, the Second Battle of Darbytown Road, and a description of the Battle of Trent's Reach the previous day on the James River. His letter appeared in the Reporter and Tribune on February 8, 1865.

Winter Quarters along the James River   LOC

   His letter answers a few questions that were previously unknown. The acting commander of this detachment of the 85th PA was Lieutenant James Nichlow. Lieutenant Absalom Dial of Company E was the nominal head of the detachment, but records indicate that Dial was away on a special detachment for a prisoner-of-war exchange. Chase reveals that Dial was actually on convalescent leave due to wounds received at Second Deep Bottom.

   Chase also explains that during their time as provost guards at division headquarters, the 85th PA was tasked with supervising Union prisoners, some of whom were awaiting execution for desertion. 

    Milton Chase includes a cryptic paragraph about 'Mat,' 'the young one,' turning in his gun for a drum. I could find no one with the name "Mat" or "Matthew" among the 150 who remained in the regiment in 1865. The closest was Matthew C. Axton of Brownsville, Fayette County. Like Chase, Axton was from Company E; but he is listed as having gone home two months earlier in December of 1864. 

Camp of the 85th Pa Vols.

Before Richmond, VA., January 15, 1865

Dear Reporter and Tribune:

   Knowing the interest felt by many of your readers, especially by the returned veterans of the Regiment, in the detachment of the noble old 85th still in the field, permit me through your columns to communicate to them some of the changes that have taken place since they left, as well as some other items that may prove interesting to our friends generally.

   The Detachment known as the 85th Pa. Volunteers, is now doing duty as Provost Guard at Headquarters, 1st Division, 24th Army Corps, Gen. A.H. Terry's old Division, now commanded by Gen. J. R. Rawley. The 85th is commanded by 1st Lieut. acting Col. James Nichlow, formerly Sergeant Co. H, Captain R.P. [Robert] Hughes having been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the 199th Pa. Vols. 1st Sergeant Charles E. Eckles, Co. E, has been promoted to Captain Co. K, 199th P.V. Sergeant W. C. [Walter] Cravin Co. C [to] Captain, Co. K 199th P.V. and Sergeant O. [Oliver] Sproul is Lieutenant Co. B 199th P.V. Lieutenant [Absalom]  Dial is abroad on sick leave occasioned by wounds received in action last August. Captain R.W. [Richard] Dawson, Assistant Inspector General on Gen. [Adelbert] Ames' staff, was so careless as to put himself in the way of a rebel ball at Fort Fisher, N.C. and consequently got shot in the right arm seriously.

    'Mat,' the 'young one,' desires his friends to know that he has got rid of his 'shoot stick' and has gone to playing the drum for a living. 

   The aggregate strength of the Regiment is about 150 men; there is 110 present for duty and the remaining 40 are absent on detached service  -- sick, wounded, etc.

   In order that you may know what part we have taken in the last campaign, I will give you a hasty and brief synopsis of our movements during that time.

   Our regiment was withdrawn from the Department of the South last April and formed part of the force that accompanied the then popular, but now fallen, Gen. [Benjamin] Butler in his operation at Bermuda Hundred, VA. [above] where we landed May 5th, 1864 from which time until August our headquarters were on that front, we being almost constantly under fire duing picket duty, or working on the various defenses of that line. We participated in several engagements and many lively lttle skirmishes on that line, including the Battle of Ware Bottom Church, May 20th, battle near the same place, June 17th, and also on the same line June 18th, expedition to north side of James River, which resulted in establishing works there June 29th, second advance from Deep Bottom August 14. Severe engagement near Malvern Hill August 16th in which our brigade led the charging column led by intrepid soldier General [Alfred] Terry, then in command of our division, the 1st of the 10th Corps. The old 85th led by Captain R. P. Hughes under whose gallant leaderhip we hurled back the rebel horde from their strong works [at Second Deep Bottom], taking a number of prisoners almost equal to our number, and capturing two rebel battle flags. Near this place we quietly entrenched ourselves, having advanced as far in that direction as was thought to be either prudent or healthy, and awaited the Johnnys' assault, which they made with a considerable show of determination on the afternoon of the 18th: they found us there and promptly skedaddled. Soon after this object of the expedition being accomplished, we were ordered to the Petersburg front, where we remained in the trenches a month, constantly under fire, though the nature and completeness of our works there was such that we suffered but few casualties.

   While here we were called to part with our heroic and almost idolized Col. J.B. [Joshua] Howell, in whose loss we are depirived of a much esteemed officer and long to be remembered friend, in whom the country loses a patriot, gentleman and true soldier that it could illy spare these troublous times. Our next move was the grand advance toward Richmond on the north side of the James from Deep Bottom and Aikin's Landing, September 28, which after a bloody struggle resuled in pushing back the rebel lines almost to the suburbs of the Rebel Capitol, the capture of strong works on 'Chapin's Farm,' Fort Harrison now called Fort Burnham, and many other important Rebel works establishing our present line within seven miles of Richmond. On this line the rebels advance on our immediate front a heavy Rebel force [on] October 7th [at Darbytown Road]. A severe engagement ensued in which the rebels were repulsed with heavy loss and driven within their main works. Our next move was the reconnaisance in force [on] October 12th and 13th [also at Darbytown Road], resulting in a series of brisk little dashes on the rebel lines and extending as far as the old battle ground at Fair Oaks, the scene of McClellan's nearest approach to Richmond , in which the 85th participated under him 'in his wanderings on the Peninsula.' On the 14th of October, the time of the original organization of the old 85th having expired, all except the reenlisted Veterans and those whose time was not out were 'mustered to the rear' and in due time mustered out and permitted to return to their homes 'laden with laurel,' long may they wave, while we lonely enough but not weary in well-doing were left in the field. October 15th, we were temporarily attached to the 199th Pa. Vols., a splendid 'one year organization' raised in Philadelphia and second to none in the corps, owing to the untiring energy, strict discipline and efficient instructions of the able and energetic officers in command, for which to the skill and experience of their acqusitions from the 85th they are in a great measure indebted. The 199th already attracts the admiration and excites the envy of many other organizations. About the 1st of December, our old corps, the 10th, was consolidated with the 18th and called the 24th Army Corps; the colored troops of the 10th and 18th corps were formed into a separate organization and called the 25th Corps. On the 15th of December, we were detached from the 199th and ordered to report for duty as Provost Guard at Hd. Qrs., 1st Div. 24th A.C. and here we are in pretty snug winter quarters, enjoying ourselves as well as possible. We have charge of about one hundred prisoners, mostly in for minor offenses while a few are charged with desertion. Two courts martial are disposing of their cases as rapidly as possible. Some have already been shot and others will doubtless ere long share their hard fate. The weather is somewhat cold at present, though we have seen but little snow this winter. The Johnnies made a demonstration on the left of our line this morning with their gunboats and rams and a cooperating land force. Our monitors and batteries in the vicinity of Dutch Gap are said to have demolished two or three of their boats and the excitement over an anticipated attack has subsided. For fear that this may be disapproved, like our applications for Furlough, on account of its length I will for the present desist, promising that if our scribbling is acceptable, you shall hear from us again when anything happens worthy of note.

I am very respectfully yours, for three years or during the war,

M.B.C.

85th Regt. P.V.V.

    Chase promised to write again should future events prove newsworthy. Fort Gregg and Appomattox were certainly meaningful events in April of 1865, but I could find no more letters from Chase in the April or May editions of the Reporter and Tribune. Most of the news in late April concerned Lincoln's assassasination, so if Chase sent a letter, there simply may not, from the newspaper's point of view, have been as much space or interest in such events.