Capture of Lt. James B. Washington

           

Casey's Division is circled. The line is the position of Casey's pickets.
The "X" is the approximate location of J.B. Washington's capture.
From Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, II; 1887, p.227

           In reviewing obituary records for the men of the 85th Pennsylvania infantry regiment from the Civil War, I came across this brief notation for Private George Washington Anderson of Company H. It pertains to an event that precluded the Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks) near Richmond, VA that began on May 31, 1862.
        "During one of the Virginia campaigns, while doing picket duty, he [Anderson] captured Major J.B. Washington of the Confederate army, now and for a number of years past secretary of the Pittsburg and Connellsville branch of the B&O R.R. Major Anderson and Mr. Washington met in Somerset a few years since, when their recognition was mutual and they spent a pleasant hour talking over their war experience." (Somerset (PA) Herald,  October 20, 1897, p.3)
           If true, the capture of Washington by Anderson would be a notable occurrence from the battle by

Picket Duty    LOC

a member of the 85th Pennsylvania.  Many accounts of the Battle of Seven Pines mention Washington's capture, but Anderson's obituary is the only one I have come across that states the identity of the  soldier who captured him. [If any reader has further information about Washington's capture, I would appreciate a response.]

          It is confirmed that members of the 85th Pennsylvania were on picket duty that day. Lieutenant John E. Michener wrote, "There on Saturday of May 31st, without any support, our little Division was attacked by an overwhelming force of the enemy's best men, and after suffering a heavy loss, was repulsed...I was on picket duty in front of the swamp, and had instructions to hold my ground till the last." [Michener letter courtesy of Margaret Thompson]

          Private Milton McJunkin also wrote, "...our Company was on picket at the time so you see I saw the whole performance. About 1 o’clock the rebs fired three shots into our camp to give Casey warning. At the same time we, that is us pickets, were attacked by 5 brigades and nearly surrounded. Our Company was in the centre of the line and was cut in two so you see we had to retreat as it was useless for 200 pickets to try to check 5,000 of the best troops Jeff [Jefferson Davis] had so we scattered and got to camp the best way we could..." [The Bloody 85th: The Letters of Milton McJunkin, a Western Pennsylvania Soldier in the Civil War, by Palm, Sauers and Schroeder, p. 39]

           The capture of Washington, who was apparently performing a reconnaissance just prior to the Confederate attack, was significant. The Confederate attack in the early afternoon of May 31 nearly overwhelmed the division of Silas Casey, which was outnumbered 2-to-1 or 3-to-1. The 85th Pennsylvania was in the thick of the early fighting that day, in the brigade of General Henry Wessells, stationed near a battery during the early part of the battle. Pushed back to a line of trees, Colonel Joshua B. Howell rallied his 85th Pennsylvania regiment and parts of others to boldly advance towards a rifle pit and temporarily regain control of the position. Howell's men had to fall back once again, but not before buying precious time for Union reinforcements from across the Chickahominy River to arrive later in the afternoon and stop the Confederate advance.
          Despite their efforts, Army of the Potomac commander George B. McClellan (based on the questionable account of General Samuel Heintzelman of the Third Corps) chose not to praise Casey's Division for their stand but to disparage them publicly for their retreat after two or three hours of fighting.
         Casualties in the 85th Pennsylvania numbered around 30 dead and another 50 or so wounded.
        One of the charges made against General Casey was that he was unprepared for a Confederate attack. But in truth, Casey knew the precariousness of his position and was furiously trying to reinforce in anticipation of a rebel attack.
        The capture of Washington several hours prior to the battle only served to intensify the Union belief that an attack was imminent.
         Many accounts of the Battle of Seven Pines mention Washington's capture, but Anderson's obituary is the only one I have come across that says who captured him.

       Luther S. Dickey wrote the official history of the regiment in 1915, about 18 years after Anderson's death. He mentioned Washington's capture on that day but did not mention Anderson's role.

          "During the forenoon of May 31, the enemy appeared in force in front of the pickets immediately north of the Williamsburg Road. Shortly after 10 'clock A.M., Lieut. J.B. Washington , an aide-de-camp on the staff of General Joseph E. Johnston, was captured by Casey's pickets on the Nine-mile road and taken to Gen. [Silas] Casey's headquarters, and thence to Gen. [Erasmus] Keyes' headquarters..." [Dickey, p.71]

          Keyes immediately notified McClellan's staff of Washington's capture. "This young gentleman [Washington] was handsomely captured by our pickets on the right...In connection with the appearance with this young officer, on our right near our lines, I will state that the general officer of the day, Col. Hunt of Casey's division, heard the cars running through the night continually. Yesterday there was much stir among the enemy, and everything on his part indicates an attack on our position, which is only tolerably strong, and my forces too weak to defend it properly." [Dickey, p.72]
       

         Anderson died on October 14, 1897 in Ursina, Somerset County, Pennsylvania at the age of 65. He served three full years in Company H, comprised of men from Somerset County and led at the start of the war by young Captain James B. Tredwell. After the war, Anderson held a variety of positions in Ursina, including constable, justice of the peace, town council member and judge. 

       Incidentally, Anderson's obituary mentions that he and Washington met after the war in Somerset to discuss their meeting at Seven Pines. This is entirely plausible, since Washington for a time managed the Somerset branch of the B&O Railroad.
         During the summer of 1863, the 85th Pennsylvania was stationed on Morris Island, South Carolina. After two failed assaults on Battery Wagner at the northern end of the island, the 85th Pennsylvania was tasked with the arduous duty of digging a series of parallels or trenches that approached Battery Wagner. Many were killed and wounded during the digging operation, falling victim to enemy sharpshooters and shelling from five Confederate forts.
           After the end of the operation, which resulted in the Confederate abandonment of Battery Wagner,

Gillmore Medal
History of the Negro Troops in the War of the Rebellion, 1888

several soldiers in each regiment were nominated by their officers for special Fort Sumter Medals, also called "Gillmore Medals" for valorous service. Anderson was one of eight men from his regiment who were awarded this honor.
         James Barroll Washington, meanwhile,  was born in 1839 and was 23 years old at the time of his capture. He was born in Baltimore and was a graduate of West Point where he was a classmate of future General George Armstrong Custer At Seven Pines, after being captured, Washington posed with Custer, then a captain in the 5th Cavalry, for several photos, including the one below.
   

Matthew Brady photo of Washington and Custer
at Seven Pines on the day of Washington's capture    LOC

          Washington was part of a prisoner of exchange four months after his capture in September of 1862 at Aiken's Landing, Virginia. He then served the Confederacy in Alabama. He became a corporate executive of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and died in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1900. He is buried in his hometown of Baltimore.
          Interestingly, Washington's father, Lewis Washington, also has a prominent place in history. Lewis Washington, a great grandnephew of President George Washington, was one of the hostages taken by radical abolitionist John Brown in 1859 during his infamous raid on the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. After Brown and his men holed up in the town's fire house with the hostages, it was Washington who pointed out Brown after U.S. Marines broke down the engine house doors and end the standoff.

John Brown' provisional army with hostages on the left in Harper's Ferry engine house
Lewis Washington is depicted as the second man from the left    LOC

       
     

Profile of Principal Musician Henry L. Regar

   

Henry L.Regar
Courtesy of John Regar

         When Henry L. Regar died at the age of 86 in 1912 in his hometown of Connellsville, Fayette County, it marked the end of an era. Regar was the last surviving Pennsylvanian who had served in both the Mexican War and the Civil War. A drummer boy during the Mexican War, he rejoined the 85th Pennsylvania during the Civil War and became the drum major of the regimental band.
          A 1903 profile stated, "It takes quite an effort to imagine that the quiet, peaceful tailor who cuts and rips and sews in Mace & Co.'s department store helped charge the City of Mexico with the gallant Eleventh infantry and fought with McClellan at Coal [sic] Harbor and Malvern Hill." [Weekly Courier, Connellsville, PA, 2-13-1903]
        The article exaggerated on a few points. General George B. McClellan was not at "Cold" Harbor, and neither was Regar and the rest of the 85th Pennsylvania for that matter. Nonetheless, the point was that a resident of Connellsville at that time would not have assumed that the soft-spoken Regar was a veteran of two wars.
        He enlisted into Company H of the 85th Pennsylvania as a musician in 1861. Regar was 35 years of age but felt the desire to serve his country once again. Near the end of 1862, he was promoted to one of two principal musicians in the regimental band along with Samuel Woods of Company C.
        After the Civil War, besides working as a tailor, Regar worked in the theatrical business for twenty years. He is buried in the Hill Grove Cemetery in Connellsville, Fayette County.
        Regar was born in 1826 in Connellsville to parents Solomon and Rebecca Vance Regar [the name has also been variously spelled, Reger, Reager, Regour and Reggar] Henry was about 20 years of age when he left Fayette County to join the 11th United States Infantry regiment during the Mexican War.
        A newspaper account from the 20th century stated that Regar tried to enlist into a Connellsville regiment but was turned down as being too young at age 14. [Again this appears to be an exaggeration. Interestingly, the same article states that Regar was 87 at the time of this profile (1912), making his birth year around 1826. If he had tried to enlist at age 14, he would have been born around 1832]. The article goes on to state that Regar then went to Pittsburgh and successfully joined the 11th U.S. Volunteers. [Daily Courier, 2-26-1912]
       The 11th infantry was under the command of Colonel Albert C. Ramsey in the brigade of Brigadier General George Cadwalader and included future Civil War officers William Taliaferro and John Gregg. Taliaferro, from Virginia, became a Confederate general in the Civil War. Gregg earned the rank of brevet general for the Union in the cavalry by the end of the Civil War. Most of the men in the regiment were from Pennsylvania; some came from Virginia and Delaware.
       The 11th participated in the battles of Cerro Gordo, Chapultapec and Mexico City. Regar remembered,
        “I served throughout the war in Company K, Eleventh United States Infantry.  The Eleventh Regulars lost over two-thirds of its members in the battles in and around the City of Mexico…The bloody climax…came when the regiment entered the city, crowding the aqueduct and battering down the heavy gates of the city. Once inside, the fighting coursed up the plaza…fighting their way from square to square and from street to street…Of the 800 men which started in the campaign with the regiment, only 200 were left. My regiment followed the defeated and retreating Mexican Army, after the battle and capture of the City of Mexico, over the mountains and into the Valley of Lerna.” [Weekly Courier, 2-12-1903]

Thomas Knox, Decisive Battles Since Waterloo, 1887

         A Pennsylvania soldier from the 11th regiment gave this account about a fight at Molina del Rey in September of 1847.

         "The 11th was ordered to charge the battery....The 11th had to charge over the same ground where fell so many of our gallant troops....They advanced steadily, but now the enemy is vomiting his grapeshot and canister upon them, and they leave a train of dead and dying. Do they falter? No -- their gallant commander is waving his sword, and they are now rushing forward at a full run...Did you hear that shout? Comes it from the Mexican ranks? No! That is true Pennsylvania shout,and tells of danger defied, and glory to be won. Here they go, onward, up to the enemy's guns.  Huzza for the old Keystone! The Mexicans are giving way before our gallant little band..." [Public Ledger, Philadelphia, 11-8-1847]

        In the Civil War, Regar stayed with his regiment for three years until his enlistment expired.

        “I entered the service as a private. I was afterward promoted to Corporal, and later, after the battle of Fair Oaks [Seven Pines], was made Drum Major for bravery in action. This position, although on the non-commissioned staff, I did not like. I accepted it at the suggestion of the Colonel [Joshua B. Howell], who promised me a commission, but the commission never came my way.” [Weekly Courier, 2-13-1903]

LOC

       After the war, Regar worked as a tailor and was a member of the Connellsville school board for two terms. He was also a member of the Silver Coronet Band of Connellsville. The group, clad in gray uniforms with red-plumed helmets, won numerous competitions. They participated in the Philadelphia Centennial in 1876 and the inauguration of Pennsylvania Governor Henry M. Hoyt in 1878. [Daily Courier, 3-1-1913]


         In 1906, during the centennial celebration for the town of Connellsville, double-war veteran Regar was an honored guest who was part of an automobile parade through the city streets. [Daily Courier, 11-17-1952]

Decorated Street of Connellsville for 1906 Parade
Centennial History of the Borough of Connellsville, Pennsylvania 1806-1906

             Regar's obituary in 1912 mentioned that he "was an entertaining conversationalist and had a host of friends in and around Connellsville." He was married to his wife, Rebecca Robbins Regar, for 64 years and was the father of seven children. The story also mentioned that he was wounded during both wars. [Daily Courier, 9-21-1912]
            In a 1903 profile of Regar by a local newspaper, Regar stated, "My opinion of the two wars is that the Mexican was more terrific and successful for it was fought from start to finish without a single drawback of defeat, although at all times we were fighting against long odds. i will say in conclusion, however, that I want to live to see the time when wars are over and when arbitration will settle disputes, for war is of the devil and not of God."

Captain Ross Rush Sanner

Captain Ross R. Sanner
Company H, 85th Pennsylvania Infantry
U.S. Army Education and Center

              Last week's post was about soldier and industrialist Norman Bruce Ream of Company H of the 85th Pennsylvania. That post mentions that Ream was saved from captivity and possibly death by his cousin, Lt. Ross R. Sanner. Ream was wounded during an assault upon Confederate forces on Whitemarsh Island, Georgia in 1864 and Sanner, also a member of Company H, assisted him back to the Union assault boats at the southwestern part of the island.

Whitemarsh Island (showing defenses) near Savannah, Georgia
LOC

        This week's post will focus on Sanner. Like Ream, Sanner taught school prior to the war as a teenager. Unlike Ream, Sanner continued his career as an educator following the war. In fact, his remarkable career as a principal and instructor spanned about 60 years. He began teaching as a teenager and  "Professor" Sanner was still teaching school at the age of 76.
    A news article five decades after the Civil War contrasted the postwar careers of the two cousins."[Ream] recovered from his wounds and became one of the greatest and richest money magnates of the United States, while Capt. Sanner elected to follow the humble though nonetheless honorable vocation of a pedagogue and in worldly goods and chattels is accounted a poor man in his old age, though rich in honor and respect shown him by the many pupils who have been under his guidance. The multi-millionaire, Norman B. Ream, remained his steadfast friends until his death, but did not remember him in his will...The writer (editor of the Republican) [William S. Livengood] had the privilege of being one of his primary pupils in 1868 and among the readers of the Republican are many who received their first instruction from this grand old pedagogue and who have ever since held him in grateful memory and high esteem." [Meyersdale Republican, February 17, 1916]
        Sanner enlisted into Company H as a 19-year old sergeant. On August 23, 1863, while stationed on Morris Island near Charleston, South Carolina, Sanner was shot in the neck by a Confederate sharpshooter. He recovered, rejoined his company and six months later saved Ream's life on Whitemarsh Island.

Sharpshooters near Fort Wagner on Morris Island, SC

         Four months after that, Sanner was wounded for the second time at Ware Bottom Church during the Bermuda Hundred Campaign and was sent to Chesapeake Hospital at Fortress Monroe. [Ream, his cousin, had also been wounded at Ware Bottom Church one day earlier]. Sanner returned to his regiment on the last day of July six weeks later, but was subsequently granted a medical discharge in September of 1864 after nearly three years of service.

Arrival of Wounded Soldiers at Fort Monroe
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper

        Sanner returned home to Somerset County but was plagued by paralysis in his arm and stiffness in his neck. He was nonetheless able to resume his teaching career, beginning in Grantsville, Maryland, just 17 miles from his birthplace.

.
        Among the various places at which he taught school were the Maryland cities of Cumberland, Frostburg, Oakland, Grantsville, Selbysport and Friendsville, as well as the Pennsylvania towns of Uniontown, Somerset and Confluence. For four years he was an instructor at the soldiers' orphan school in Jumonville, PA. He was still teaching until three weeks prior to his death.
        Sanner died in  1918. At his funeral, Dr. Walter S. Mountain, a life-long friend and fellow veteran of Company H, delivered the eulogy. Mountain said, "Capt. R.R. Sanner and I were schoolboys together and in the same company during the Civil War, hence I know something of his bravery and how well he did his duty as a soldiers...Our first fight was at Williamsburg, Va, and the captain [Sanner] was not found in the rear. He showed the same bravery at Yorktown, Fair Oaks and Malvern Hill. The next battle was at Newbern, NC, [Goldsboro Expedition] where Capt. Jackson was hiding behind a bank along a stream for fear he might be shot, and for which he was dismissed from the service for cowardice, and Capt. Sanner showed his bravery by staying on the bank where he was exposed and won his captaincy...[On Morris island]..the captain exposed his head above the ramparts and a confederate caught him in the neck with a bullet, and he was sent to the hospital. He was offered his discharge, but he said, 'No I am going back to my company to help lick the enemy.' A Confederate [at Ware Bottom Church] caught him in the arm and maimed him till the job was completed." [Meyeresdale (PA) Republican, April 11, 1918]
        Sanner is buried at Confluence, Somerset County in the Methodist Cemetery.

Sanner, age 74
Meyersdale Republican, 2-17-16

Lieutenant Norman Bruce Ream

 

Norman Bruce Ream
From Dickey's History of the 85th Pennsylvania Infantry

       Undoubtedly, in the decades following the Civil War, the two most prominent former members of the 85th Pennsylvania were Robert P. Hughes and Norman B. Ream. Hughes, who stayed in the army and rose to the rank of general,  was featured in an earlier post on this site. The current post will focus on the remarkable war and postwar careers of Ream.
       Ream was 17 years old when he enlisted into Company H in 1861 from Harnedsville, Somerset County. Prior to enlisting, he worked as a teacher and photographer. While serving as a young sergeant, Ream rallied his troops during an assault on Kinston, North Carolina in December of 1862, earning a promotion to lieutenant. The 19-year old Ream may have been the youngest private-to-first-lieutenant promotion in the Union army during the war.
       Ream was severely wounded by a bullet through his thigh during an assault on Whitemarsh Island near Savannah, GA in February of 1864. Ream's avoided capture when he was dragged to safety by his cousin, Lt. Ross Sanner of Company H.

Ross Sanner, Company H
U.S. Army Education and Heritage Center

          Ream returned to the regiment and was wounded in the right leg in the Battle of Ware Bottom Church during the Bermuda Hundred Campaign south of Richmond, VA in June of 1864. Due to his wounds, he received a discharge on the last day of August, 1864.
     [At the bottom of this page is a 1914 article in which Ream discusses a horrific night on Morris Island, near Charleston, South Carolina, 50 years earlier when his company was devastated by a single shell during trench operations].
      Following the war, Ream began a remarkable career in business that enabled him to become one of the leading industrialists in the nation, sometimes mentioned in the same class of mega-business leaders  as J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie and George Pullman.  Ream first moved to Illinois and began an mercantile business. He soon relocated to Iowa and operated a grain and livestock business. By 1875, he continued in the livestock business in Chicago and became a member of the city's Board of Trade. His career in business skyrocketed in the next few decades.
      One of his largest ventures was to help form the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco). He was also involved in the Pullman Railroad Company, U.S. Steel, and the B&O Railroad.
      One newspaper article credited him with the concept of the modern skyscraper.  He was apparently riding on a train over a steel bridge on his way to Denver for a vacation. The article continued, "Sitting there alone he figured it out thus: Here is this heavy train supported over a raging river by

Ream in 1912
       LOC

this structure laid on its side. Stood on end the structure would be the safest kind of construction for a building. The idea was so refreshing he mulled it over all the way to Denver and the first thing he did on arrival there was to write to a leading architect of Chicago, directing him to draw plans for such a building and he prepared to discuss them on his return.
        “‘The Rookery’ was the result, and the result of the Rookery has made a profound change in the architecture of the great cities of the world." Even with Mr. Ream’s backing, trouble was encountered getting people to occupy the higher floors. The first eight floors rented quickly but for weeks nobody would venture above that. Mr. Ream took offices on the top floor and everybody wanting to see him was compelled to go to the top of the building. Finally the nervousness wore off and –well, there’s the Woolworth building."

        Ream made a publicized (in western Pennsylvania) visit to a reunion of the 85th PA in 1909 in Uniontown. It was the first time he had attended a regimental reunion since 1875 at Brownsville, Fayette County. He arrived on a private train car of the B & O Railroad. He spent several days in the area, and was feted at a dinner in Confluence, not far from his hometown of Harnedsville. While there, he discovered  that the town was raising funds to build a new church. Ream pledged money towards the entire construction effort of  the church, some $25,000.    
         Soon thereafter, he organized a meeting of several prominent veterans of his former regiment for the writing and publication of an extensive history of the unit. After a meeting as his Connecticut mansion, historian Luther S. Dickey was hired to write the book. This official history of the 85th Pennsylvania was published in 1915, with Ream providing a free copy to every living veteran.

        Ream did not live to see the regiment's  history in print. He died several months before it was published. One of the pallbearers for his funeral was Robert Lincoln, son of the president. Ream was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in New York City. He was reported as one of the 25 wealthiest men in the country at the time of his death, having amassed a fortune of around 50 million dollars. 
        This Missouri news article shortly after his death related this story about his first venture into business: “In Harnedsville, Pa., where Norman B. Ream was born and where he passed his boyhood, a neighbor of the Ream family had a flock of ducks. One of the ducks had ventured too far from the water, had become entangled in a crack in the floor of the corn crib and had broken his leg. Under ordinary circumstances, this would have meant that the duck was started on the way to the dinner table, but Norman Ream, eight years old, bargained with the owner for the duck, bought the injured fowl with the pennies he had saved, splintered the broken leg, fattened the fowl, and sold him at a profit.” [Springfield Republican, February 21, 1915, p.8]

          A recent biography of Ream was published in 2012 by Paul Ryscavage. It is entitled, "Norman B. Ream: Forgotten Master of Markets."
    Several web pages offer more information  and pictures on the life of Norman Bruce Ream. They can be found here and here.

Kansas City Journal
October 20, 1898

Pittsburgh Post Gazette
August 3, 1914
Ream describes a terrifying night on Morris Island, SC