Such Hard and Severe Service: The Story Tellers

 
 The author would like to acquaint the readers of Such Hard and Severe Service published by Monongahela Books with the following members of the regiment. They are each quoted through their letters, diaries, memoirs and newspaper articles.  Many other men of the regiment are quoted, but the words of the following men are used multiple times. I did not include these images in the first two volumes; I saved most of the individual photographs for Volume 3 (soon to be published). That last part of my regimental history provides biographical information for the men of the entire regiment.
         The information below hopefully will add context to their backgrounds, personal views, and military experience..

From Sharon Zbinovec

Private Milton McJunkin: This volunteer in Company D from Bentleyville, PA, wrote a series of  letters to his family that was published in 2000 by Patrick Schroeder, Richard Sauers and Ronn Palm in a book called,“The Bloody Eighty-Fifth: The Letters of Milton McJunkin, a Pennsylvania Soldier inthe Civil War.”  McJunkin offers a variety of observations on his fellow soldiers, officers, their camp conditions, as well as vivid descriptions of the fights in which he participated. 

                                                            

From His Memoir

Sergeant Mark Gordon: A young teacher in Greene County prior to the war, Gordon joined Company G as a sergeant with his father, Lieutenant John A. Gordon. Mark Gordon contributes his observations from  a variety of primary sources: a memoir, letters written to his family during the war, letters written to his hometown newspaper and a brief diary. Gordon reveals his thoughts in real time through his letters, and also from the perspective of time through his memoir written 25 years after the war called "Experiences in the Civil War." Gordon's great grandson, also named Mark Gordon, was elected governor of Wyoming in 2018.

                                                                                                                                                                                        

Lieutenant Colonel Henry Purviance: The captain of Company E, Purviance was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1862. He was wounded at Seven Pines and was later the acting regimental commander on Morris Island in 1863 when he was killed by friendly fire. Purviance was the co-publisher of the Washington (PA) Observer and Tribune newspaper and wrote a series of descriptive letters home that were published by his newspaper in the first two years of the war.

From Brian J. Ensley

Private Robert Roddy: Like Purviance, Roddy had a background in journalism. Roddy enlisted as a private in Company H and served for one year before being sent home on a medical discharge. Roddy was a reporter in civilian life and his brother, Edward, owned the Genius of Liberty newspaper in Uniontown, PA. Roddy wrote several letters under the pen name "Zingaroo" that were published in his brother’s newspaper concerning his time in Washington, DC and the Virginia Peninsula. 

From His Memoir

Corporal William E. Finley: Two years after the end of the war, Finley, from Uniontown,  wrote a brief memoir of the regiment that he titled The Privates’ History. Finley was wounded at Seven Pines and served for three years before returning home at the end of 1864. He was one of about 300 members of the regiment who completed his h original three-year enlistment. The rest were killed in battle, died from disease, or were sent home due to a medical discharge.

                                                                

From Dickey's Regiment History

Colonel Joshua Howell: Besides writing several reports that are found in the official records of the Union army, Colonel Howell also wrote a series of Civil War letters that were published in an 1891 book by John Howell, his descendant. Howell offers official and personal glimpses about "his boys," his fellow officers, his severe concussion suffered on Morris Island and the Bermuda Hundred Campaign.

From Ryan Berley

Corporal Davis Himmeger: The 43-year old farmer with a wife and five children never experienced the battlefield. Himmeger contracted a disease while on the Peninsula Campaign and died in a Baltimore hospital in May, 1862. A chapter of Volume 1 is devoted to letters written by Himmeger, his wife, Margaret, and various family members and friends. To the left is a picture of Himmeger’s frock coat sent home following his death.

                                                                       

From James Hadden
"History of the Old Flag"

Lieutenant Richard W. Dawson: The young lieutenant was studying to be an attorney when he joined Company I as a lieutenant. He was promoted to the Inspector General's staff but was still assigned to the 85th PA. In early 1865, he was wounded in the assault on Fort Fisher near Wilmington, NC and died the several weeks later. His diary, which covers the year prior to his death, is the subject of an entire chapter in Volume 2 of my book.

                                                           

From Ron Coddington

Lieutenant John E. Michener: The native of Fredericktown, PA joined the regiment as a lieutenant of Company D. Shortly after being promoted to captain of Company K, he was captured on Whitemarsh Island, GA and spent the next nine months in captivity before being traded for a Confederate officer in Charleston Harbor. Michener's letters recount the Battle of Seven Pines as well as his thoughts on the various environments in which his regiment was stationed.