Charles Cox and Lt. Robert G. Taylor

 

Charles Cox
from  Percy Hart's History and Directory of the Three Towns, 1904, p.167

         An interesting relationship that developed in the 85th Pennsylvania during the war was between Lieutenant Robert Gillis Taylor of Company E and Charles Cox of Virginia. It was a relationship that seemingly lasted nearly 40 years and ended with a strong sense of irony as the two men passed away on the same day in 1899.
        To be frank, this article includes much speculation about Cox because records of his life are extremely sparse. The writer hopes the reader will indulge his speculations and assumptions.
         Two questions about the Taylor-Cox connection remain unanswered. What was their relationship after the Civil War, and how did Charles Cox become a prosperous member of the Brownsville, Pennsylvania community?
         Let us begin with Taylor's war service. Lieutenant Taylor enlisted at the age of 27 into Company E at Washington, PA. He was likely recruited by Captain Henry A. Purviance, the co-publisher of a Washington, PA newspaper. [See last week's post for a profile of Purviance].  Taylor served as a first lieutenant along with Thompson Purviance, a young cousin of Henry Purviance who was killed at Seven Pines.
        Taylor spent 13 months in the 85th Pennsylvania. He is listed as having been wounded at Seven Pines on May 31, 1862. He was medically dismissed for "partial paralysis" almost six months later on November 22, 1862.
        When Taylor returned to Washington County, he was accompanied by an African-American from Virginia named Charles Cox. One source noted that Cox was from the area of Norfolk, Virginia. If so, they two probably met wither when the regiment landed at Hampton Roads for the Peninsula Campaign in April of 1862 or while the regiment was stationed at nearby Suffolk, VA between September and December of 1862. Cox may have been a free man, but more likely a displaced slave who became employed by Taylor as a valet or cook during Taylor's time in the army. Cox may have tended to Taylor's physical needs in camp as a result of the paralysis.
      At the time of the meeting between Cox and Taylor, the issue of emancipation of slaves was highly controversial. President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862. It was to take effect on January 1, 1863 for slaves in the states of the Confederacy. Many Americans, including Union soldiers, spent the fall of 1862 debating the issue. While abolitionists were pleased, many other northerners were concerned that the primary goal of the war, which so far had been saving the Union, would be superseded by freedom for slaves.
       Cox was around 50 or so years old when the two returned to western Pennsylvania together. Perhaps Taylor, who seems to have come from a well-to-do family (a brother became a college professor),  felt he still needed help in his recovery. He may also have valued Cox's companionship and perhaps even friendship while camped at Suffolk.
        By 1880, Taylor was living in the western part of Washington County near the Monongahela River.  Cox had crossed the Monongahela River to live in Luzerne Township, a part of Brownsville, Fayette County. Cox probably did not work for Taylor at this time, but the two appear to have remained on friendly terms. By this time, Cox was married to Catherine (Peyton) and had two sons, Henry and William.
        Catherine was younger than Charles, by about 25 years, according to their shared headstone. The 1880 census lists her as having been born in Virginia, leading to the possibility that she traveled north with Taylor and Cox in 1862. Both sons are recorded as having been born Pennsylvania. Catherine would have been around 20 years of age when Taylor and Cox left the regiment.
     Charles Cox is listed in the 1880 census as being employed as a laborer. Accounts of his age vary wildly. This census lists his age as 65, meaning his birth would have been round 1815. His headstone, however, lists his birth year as 1799, meaning he would have been over 80 years of age in 1880. In Percy Hart's history of Brownsville, Cox is noted as having been 107 years old at his death in 1899, making his birth year around 1792.
     Also perhaps noteworthy in the 1880 census is that Cox and his family lived among white neighbors at this time.
     In his 1904 history of the Brownsville area, local resident and author Percy Hart lists Cox among the three most prominent African American residents of the town. Hart includes a photo of Cox (top of page), who had died a few years earlier, but offers no other biographical information.
     In 1891, the Connellsville Weekly Courier carried this brief paragraph about Cox.

      Although the article highlights the fact that Cox was given a place of honor at the regimental reunion, the language used is cringe-worthy by modern standards. The article used the term "captured" to describe Cox's attachment to the regiment, which does not appear to be a matter of coercion, and does not mention Taylor's role in his migration to the North.
       Furthermore, City Point, VA was developed into a Union base in 1864, 19 months after Cox left Virginia for Pennsylvania.
     In reality, Cox probably was considered an honorary part of the regiment; his presence at the reunion may have reminded the veterans that the freedom of people like Cox was one of the positive outcomes of the war.
      The article also states Cox was captured by"the Brownsville company." This is incorrect. Company C was the company of the 85th Pennsylvania with men mostly from Brownsville and the immediate area. Taylor was a member of Company E, which were men from Washington and Greene Counties. Taylor did hail from East Bethlehem and Centreville, PA in Washington County, just a few miles from Brownsville. The fact that Cox settled near Brownsville may have led to the assumption in the article that he was first associated with the "Brownsville company."
    Taylor went on to a prominent career in local business and politics. After recovering from the paralysis, he worked as a clerk for a railroad company in Pittsburgh.  In 1886, he was appointed the commissioner of the Cumberland Road (today's Route 40 in Pennsylvania) by Governor Robert E. Pattison, replacing fellow 85th Pennsylvania veteran Moses McKeag, who had passed away. A year later, Taylor was elected as a commissioner for Washington County. (Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania, Volume 1, 1893)

Hart's Directory, p.255

This death registry lists Taylor and Cox as having died on the same day.

Obituary for Robert G.  Taylor
Pittsburgh Daily Post, 11-21-1899, p.1

This article about the Taylor-Cox relationship seems to contain fairly accurate information about Cox, who very likely was a servant for Taylor during the war.
   

Obituary for Charles Cox
Pittsburgh Press, 11-21-1899, p.8

This article notes Cox's nickname as "Captain Charlie." It is unknown where Cox picked up this moniker. If he were born near Norfolk, he may have worked at the port there. Or he may have worked on the river at Brownsville, where passenger and cargo ships were docked and maintained during the 1800's. The article notes that Cox was financially successful but does not state the kind of work in which he had engaged. 

     Cox was buried in Brownsville and has a rather prominent headstone for himself and his family, perhaps denoting that he did indeed find financial success after he crossed the Mason-Dixon Line into Pennsylvania. 

New Bethlehem (PA) Vindicator
11-24-1899, p.6

Finally, this article from a newspaper in northeast Pennsylvania focuses on the unusual matter of the two men passing away on the same day: November 20, 1899. It also implies that they maintained some sore of relationship after returning from the war.
    Robert G. Taylor is buried in the Taylor Cemetery in Centreville, Washington County, PA.

Profile of Lieutenant Colonel Henry A. Purviance

Henry A. Purviance
Photo taken in Pittsburgh

      Among the hundred or so soldier in the 85th Pennsylvania who died as the result of the battlefield during the Civil War, the most senior officer to fall was Lieutenant Colonel Henry A. Purviance. He was killed as the result of friendly fire on Morris Island, South Carolina on August 30, 1863. Temporarily in command of the regiment after Colonel Joshua B. Howell suffered a concussion  a few days earlier, Purviance was in the trenches with his men when a Union shell fired from behind his position prematurely exploded over his head. He was instantly killed. Purviance was 32 years of age.
      At the time the Civil War began in 1861, Purviance was the co-publisher of the Washington (PA) Reporter and Tribune newspaper. Every few months, Purviance would write a detailed summary of the activities of the 85th Pennsylvania which was published back home in his newspaper. 
    Although born in Butler County, PA, Purviance had deep roots in Washington County. His maternal grandfather, John Hamilton (1754-1837), had been appointed sheriff of Washington County in 1793. This was the time of the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania; the nexus of the uprising was in Washington County. Farmers protested a new excise tax on whiskey, their main source of income and barter, to defray the federal government's debt left over from the Revolutionary War. Sheriff Hamilton was involved in the early peaceful protests of the tax, but unsuccessfully tried to steer the movement away from violence. Incident included the tarring-and-feathering of tax collectors, attempted destruction of tax records and a gun fight at the home of tax collector John Neville.
     Hamilton was nevertheless charged with aiding and abetting the insurrection. After President George Washington authorized troops to quell the rebellion, Hamilton was arrested and taken to Philadelphia. However, Hamilton was exonerated and went home. In the ensuing decades, he held a variety of public offices for the next 20 years. These included a position in the Pennsylvania State Senate and in the United States House of Representatives. (Boyd Crumrine, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania, 1882, pp.305-6)

Tarring-and-Feathering of a Tax Collector      LOC

       Several decades following Hamilton's death, just after the Civil War had begun at Fort Sumter, SC in April of 1861, his grandson, Henry Purviance, enlisted into the 12th Pennsylvania infantry for three months. This regiment did not take part in the Battle of Bull Run in July of 1861 and the regiment was soon disbanded.
     But after the Union lost at Bull Run and it became obvious that the war was going to last longer than a battle or two. Eager to fight for the Union cause, Purviance organized his own company of Washington County men and took it to Pittsburgh to train.
      After some negotiation, Purviance took his company to Camp Lafayette in Uniontown, PA to join Colonel Joshua B. Howell's new regiment, the 85th Pennsylvania. Purviance would serve as captain of Company E.
     The 85th Pennsylvania was stationed for five months in Washington, DC and then was sent via transport ships to the Virginia Peninsula for George B. McClellan's campaign to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond and end the war. During this time in 1862, Purviance was elected as the regiment's lieutenant colonel, replacing Norton McGiffin, who had gone home on a medical discharge.
        At this time, Purviance wrote one of his first letters that was published in his newspaper. Aboard the steamship Daniel Webster near Portsmouth, VA when the regiment was on its way to the Virginia Peninsula, Purviance wrote about scanning the waters around Fort Monroe, VA to look for the ironclad Monitor, which had neutralized the Confederate ironclad Virginia (Merrimac) two weeks earlier:

Hampton Roads, VA  1862
The Gazette, Cedar Rapids Iowa
3-4-1962

“…after a very refreshing sleep, I found that our vessel was anchored out in Chesapeake Bay off Fortress Monroe. The Bay was dotted in every direction with ships of war, merchants ships and vessels of every size and description…I cared little for any of them, for my curious eyes were seeking out the famous ‘Yankee Cheese Box,’ [the ironclad Monitor] which bewildered and startled rebeldom and especially the…insolent Merrimac a few weeks ago. I could not believe the most contemptible looking whelp of a vessel in all the Bay, lying scarcely a quarter of a mile away, with nothing of her visible except the rim of the hull, her deck and revolving turret, was the Monitor. She is a wonderful contrivance and is doubtless the most formidable battery afloat…The arrival of the Monitor in Hampton Roads was so opportune as to seem providential. Not only would the vast shipping around Fortress Monroe have been at the mercy of the iron clad Merrimac…but the fort itself [might] have succumbed to the maritime monster.” (Washington Reporter and Tribune, April 17, 1862)  

         At the battle of Seven Pines, on May 31, 1862, as part of Henry Wessells' Brigade in Silas Casey's Division, the 85th Pennsylvania was in the front lines near Richmond when Confederates launched an attack against their exposed position. Casey's Division, outnumbered at least 2-to-1, held off the enemy for several hours before withdrawing. Their effort gave Union forces in the rear time to enter the fight and stall the Confederate charge. 
        The 85th Pennsylvania had about 75 casualties in the battle, including Purviance, who was shot in the leg. He was sent to a Philadelphia hospital to recover. 
        From his hospital bed, two weeks after the battle, Purviance wrote, "I am shot by a musket ball through the left leg, in the thick part below the knee. The doctors think the ball passed behind the bone and around it without fracturing...Even worse than my wound, though, does it pain me to observe misrepresentations of Casey's division in connection to the battle...Our own regiment...was absolutely the last to retire."  (Luther S. Dickey, History of the 85th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, p.171)
      Purviance recovered and returned to his regiment. In December, 1862, they were sent to North Carolina for the Goldsboro Expedition, a Union effort to seize a key rail hub and to prevent enemy supplies from reaching Robert E. Lee's army near Fredericksburg, VA. The North Carolina expedition was a success, as the Union force under John G. Foster won four small battles. Unfortunately for the Union, the Goldsboro Expedition did nothing to prevent the Confederate victory at Fredericksburg. 
       

Advance of 85th PA toward Kinston (NC)  Bridge
December 14, 862
Harper's Weekly, January 10, 1863

One member of the 85th Regiment, Private John F. McCoy of Washington County, remembered Purviance's leadership as their brigade about to charge through a waist-deep swamp on their way to help capture the town of Kinston.
         McCoy wrote, "Our Lieut. Colonel, H. A. Purviance, was running from one end of the line to the other encouraging the men. One thing I heard him say, 'Remember, boys, there is no falling back with the 85th.' With such commanders as him and Colonel Howell, we knew we could fight, at least we were willing to try." (Wheeling Intelligencer, January 9, 1863)
          A few months later, the 85th Pennsylvania was transferred to South Carolina as part of the Union effort to try to recapture Fort Sumter and subdue the city of Charleston.
           While stationed on Folly Island, Union soldiers would sometimes trade items with Confederate soldiers, usually coffee and sugar in exchange for Confederate tobacco. Many Union officers discouraged such transactions. But as one of his letter demonstrates, Purviance allowed the following exchange to occur between Folly Island and Morris Island across Light House Inlet, perhaps because it was not face-to-face.

Light House Inlet between Folly and Morris Islands
Henry F. W. Little
The Seventh Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers\1896, p.190

"By and by…a nautical machine popularly called a 'dug out,' a miniature craft with a tiny sail, was seen to be freighted (across Lighthouse Inlet) and launched from the other side. The wind filled the little sail, and the clumsy vessel, which was very much like a sugar trough, came tumbling over to our shore where it was at once secured and subjected to my inspection. It contained a huge cake of chewing tobacco…Our boys promptly acknowledged the courtesy. A vessel was gracefully proportioned and elegantly fashioned, conforming in its exterior appearance to the Monitor model, the turret of which was filled with coffee, was set afloat and soon made its way to the hostile shore (on Morris Island)...This sort of intercourse had been going on for weeks. (Washington Reporter and Tribune, May 20, 1863, p.2)   

   





       Helping to guard Fort Sumter and Charleston for the Confederates on Morris Island were Batteries Wagner and Gregg. Two Union assaults in July of 1863 upon Battery Wagner resulted in massive Union casualties.The 85th Pennsylvania was to follow up the initial assaults on both occasions, but each time the secondary assault was cancelled due to heavy Union losses.
        In late July, a new strategy was instituted. Union forces would dig a series of entrenchments or parallels to close the gap between themselves and Battery Wagner. Once Wagner's rifle pits were taken, another assault would be attempts. However, as the Union diggers closed upon them, the Confederates decided to abandon both Wagner and Gregg. Union forces were able to quietly occupy the structures. 
      During the digging part of the campaign, the 85th Pennsylvania played a key role. From late July to early September, the 85th Pennsylvania suffered more casualties than any other Union regiment. These included Colonel Howell and Lieutenant Colonel Purviance.
    During their twelve-hour shift on August 21, at work on the fourth (of five) trench or parallel, the position of the regiment was under intense firing from Confederate sharpshooters and batteries. Twenty-five men were wounded, five of whom died. 
        On August 29, Purviance formally protested to his superiors about the mounting losses in his regiment. Nonetheless, he led his men into the forward trench line at sunset. A bright moonlight presented Confederate artillery positions with a clear target. Soon a single shell killed or wounded six men. 
    After midnight, in the early morning hours of August 30, two more men were killed. They were William Grover of Company D and George Grover of Company I. 

Morris Island
 Parallels, Wagner and Gregg
LOC

    The long shift was not over. Only a week earlier, the colonel of a regiment that was in the process of relieving the 85th Pennsylvania asked Purviance where he could find the relative safety of the command position. Purviance bluntly told the colonel, "My headquarters are with my men."  (Dickey, p.278)
    In the morning hours of August 30, Purviance joined the list of those mortally wounded. He was the highest ranking officer to perish in the overall siege of Battery Wagner.
     The most detailed account of Purviance's death came from Lieutenant John E. Michener of Company D. 
     "About daylight on the morning of the 30^th of August Lieutenant Colonel Purviance was instantly killed by the premature explosion of a shell from one of [Union General Quincy] Gillmore’s guns, which was being fired rapidly at Fort Wagner over the heads of the Union troops. The previous night had been one of extreme trial and excitement; the enemy desperately employing all the guns and mortars that could be brought to bear upon the persistent and determined besiegers. This noble officer, soldier, and patriot had entered the trenches that night with one hundred and seventy-five men of his regiment. Discovering indications of an assault by the enemy, he sent Lieutenant Michener, acting temporarily as adjutant, back to headquarters for additional troops. Colonel [Louis] Bell of the Fourth New Hampshire sent up, with Lieutenant Michener, two companies of the Ninth Maine, which were all that could be used to advantage. Morning dawned, however, without any attack by the enemy, yet the continued fire of the rebels upon this little devoted band, during the night, had told fearfully upon their ranks. The brave Colonel Purviance, weary and almost exhausted sat down by a small bomb-proof and generously inviting Captains R.P. Hughes and Lieutenant Michener to his side, divided some rations of boiled ham and biscuit among them. The repast being ended, Lieutenant Michener handed the colonel an overcoat and requested him to lie down and take some rest, at the same time remarking that if anything of importance occurred, he would quickly report to him. Lieutenant Michener had just turned to leave him when he [Purviance] was struck by the fatal shell and killed instantly. Thus fell one of the bravest and noblest spirits of the war, lamented by all who knew him, and mourned as a father by the brave men whom he had so often led to battle." (Washington Reporter and Tribune, October 9, 1867, page 3)
      

       Another tribute to Purviance appeared several months after his death, written by an anonymous member of the regiment. This soldier lamented the loss of Purviance, whom he gave full credit for the regiment's cohesiveness up to that time. "When the command of the 85^th was entrusted to Col. Purviance, it was destitute of discipline, without prestige from former victories – in fact, a raw, untrained body of men, but containing the finest material in the world for soldiers. To mould these men into soldiers, invincible in action and distinguished for their courage and fidelity, was his constant aim and the object of his ceaseless and untiring exertions. For whatever services the 85^th has rendered the nation in its struggle for self preservation and for whatever success it has achieved during the last two years of its existence, let the glory be attributed to him to whom along it is justly due – Lt. C. Purviance."  (Washington Reporter and Tribune, February 17, 1864, p.2)

     About a month after his death, his own newspaper published a lengthy obituary. 
         "The Reporter and Tribune contains the sad announcement that Col. H. A. Purviance, one of the editors and proprietors, had fallen at his post on Morris Island while operating at the head of his regiment against the rebel stronghold, Fort Wagner.

          The circumstances attending his death are, in brief, about these: On the 30^th of August, while our forces were operating against the rebel fortress which may fairly be denominated the Sebastopol of America, it was the fortune of Colonel Purviance to occupy the extreme advance, and as our batteries were at the time engaged in what is no uncommon mode of operation – firing at the enemy

Exterior of Batteries Wagner and Gregg   LOC

over the heads of our own men – he was killed by a shell from one of our own guns. He was in the extreme front, watching the movements of the enemy, when a shell from our own batteries exploded immediately above him, carrying away the whole back part of his head, sending one of the fragments through the body in the immediate region of the heart, and lacerating the right arm in the most horrible manner. Of course he was killed instantly. The melancholy mishap is ascribed to the fact that the powder with which the shell was filled was somewhat damp, on account of which the fuse was cut short, and, as might naturally be effected, a wrong calculation seems to have been made either in respect to the length of the fuse or the state of the powder with the untoward result we have indicated.

          Colonel Purviance was the son of Parker C. Purviance, Esq., now of Kittanning, Pa, a native of our town, and a namesake of the celebrated Parker Campbell, one of the most distinguished lawyers of Western Pennsylvania in the early part of the present century. The subject of our brief sketch was born in Butler, Pa., in the month of May, 1831, and was, consequently, in the 32nd year of his age at the time of his decease. At an early age he developed those traits of character which later life marked him out as the man of exquisite taste and of high literary attainments. Unlike most men, he may be said to have had no childhood, so soon did he manifest a disposition to prefer the society of his books and pen to the childish sports and amusements of his youthful companions. By the time he had attained his eighth year he had accustomed himself to write short articles for the village paper, one of which – a poem on the death of a youthful friend and companion – attracted considerable interest and excited no little astonishment that a youth of such tender years should exhibit extraordinary command of language and vigor of thought. The only education which he received was such as the village school and the academy of his native place could furnish. As might be expected, he eagerly availed himself of the advantages afforded by these, and of course made most rapid progress in his studies. His father being engaged in the publication of a paper at the time, he entered the office at the age of thirteen, and with the most wonderful facility acquiring a thorough knowledge of the art, rendering the most important and valuable assistance in the various departments of the concern. His connection with the office afforded him ample opportunity to indulge his taste for varied and extensive reading, of which he did not fail to take advantage, thus storing his mind with a copious fund of useful knowledge, upon which he was enable to draw to good purpose in after life. He continued to follow his occupation as a printer without much interruption until he attained the age of nineteen, at which time the married, and soon after engaged for a brief period in the Daguerreotype business, an occupation which afforded him the requisite leisure to indulge his irrepressible taste for reading and study. During the few years of his experience as an artist, he devoted himself with more than his ordinary assiduity to literary pursuits, and his productions were sought after by such noted journalists as George D. Prentice. From time to time his effusions graced the columns of the most respectable journals of the country, all of which readily gave place to his articles, and were glad to number him among their regular contributors.

             In the midst of these pursuits, he still found some time to devote to public affairs. Having taken up his residence in the Allegheny city, he took a prominent part in the political contests of the day, and was actively engaged on the stump in Allegheny County during the presidential canvass of 1856. After the close of that struggle, with a determination to connect himself with the press so soon as an opportunity presented itself, and accordingly in June 1858, in connection with Col. [Samuel] Armstrong, he purchased the Tribune of this pace, and from that time until there breaking out of the rebellion was actively engaged in our midst in the performance of his editorial duties. In response to the President’s call for troops, after the fall of Sumter, he enlisted in the first company that left our county, and passed through the three months’ service as a private. On his return home, he took the field and recruited a company of his own and attached himself to the 85^th Pa. Regiment, under command of Col. [Joshua B.] Howell. Having trained himself to do thoroughly whatever he undertook. he devoted himself entirely to the profession of arms, and soon displayed those rare qualities which marked him for promotion. So completely had he won the confidence of his companions in arms that upon the resignation of Lieut. Col. [Norton] M’Giffin on account of ill health, he was chosen to fill the place, thus leaping at a single bound from a captain’s place to the second position of the regiment. He had command of the regiment for the last year, Col. Howell having been acting in the capacity of Brigadier General during the length of time. He had passed safely through sixteen battles and skirmishes, with the exception of a severe wound which here received in the leg in the memorable conflict at Fair Oaks [Seven Pines], and it seems melancholy that one who had so often escaped the bullets of the enemy should at last have been taken away by a deadly missile from our own ranks.

          This simple and imperfect sketch of his somewhat eventful career, has spun out to such a length that we have little space left in which to dwell on those traits of character that endeared him to so large a circle of friends. As a write and speaker, Col. Purviance’s style, though somewhat diffuse, was vigorous and elegant, the readers always being captivated by the brilliancy of his thought as well as the mellifluous flow of his words. His intellect being strong imbued with the poetic elements, his copious imagery imparting a freshness and luster even to the most commonplace ideas, while the more grave and stately conceptions of his mind were made to appear like 'apples of gold in the pictures of silver.'

          As a public journalist it is scarcely necessary to speak of him; the readers of this paper who have so often enjoyed his weekly visits through our editorial columns and who have so often been charmed with the letters he from time to time contributed from the camp, know how to appreciate the loss they and we have sustained by his fall. Whatever he undertook he did with his might; and whatever cause he espoused, he labored for with all the earnestness of his nature, regardless alike of threats or blandishments. As a patriot his record is before us and the blood he has so freely poured out in defense of the Union of our fathers tells, in more forcible language that any mere word of ours, how well had loved and how faithfully he served the country that bore him. But though he as been stricken down in the prime of his manhood and in the vigor of his usefulness, he has left behind him a name to be remembered in after years in connection with that of a [Nathaniel] Lyon, an [Elmer] Ellsworth, a [Edward] Baker, and the long catalogue of worthies who have gladly yielded up their lives for the cause of free government."  (Washington Reporter and Tribune, reprinted in the Raftsman's Journal, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, October 14, 1863)

       Purviance was a widower; his wife, Mary Jane Parker Purviance, had died in 1859. He was the father of three young daughters -- Margaretta, Belle and Ada. They were raised by Purviance's brother, William, and his wife. His body was shipped home. He is buried in the Washington Cemetery in Washington, PA. 

Casualties at the Battle of Seven Pines

 

From Dickey's History of the 85th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry

     The first major battle fought by the 85th Pennsylvania was also the largest in which they ever participated. It was at the Battle of Seven Pines near Richmond on May 31, 1862, the first day of the two-day battle during George B. McClellan's Peninsular Campaign.
     The 85th Pennsylvania had more casualties in this battle than in any other in which they fought. It should be noted that at Second Deep Bottom in August of 1864, the regiment, which was down from its original thousand members to around 400, suffered a higher percentage of losses at that time.
    At Seven Pines, the 85th Pennsylvania was in Henry Wessells' Brigade, part of Silas Casey's Division of Erasmus Keyes' Fourth Corps. McClellan had inexplicably sent Casey's Division across the Chickahominy River, far in advance of the rest of his army. Three of McClellan's five corps did not cross the river. Only Keyes' Fourth Corps and Samuel Heintzelman's Third Corps advanced across the river to probe the enemy and to set up an encampment just three miles from Richmond.
     Casey's Division, the least experienced of McClellan's five divisions and the one most depleted by illness, was thus put in the vanguard of McClellan's army with both flanks exposed.
    Confederate General Joseph Johnston saw an inviting target for an attack, especially after a heavy spring rainstorm on May 30 had swelled the Chickahominy River into a rushing, almost impassable torrent. With most of McClellan's army on the opposite side of the river, and perhaps being unable to engage, Johnson devised a plan to throw his whole army of 60,000 against Casey's and Keyes' 33,000 men.
 

Picket Line and Casey's Division at Seven Pines
From Dickey's History of the 85th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry

        In the early afternoon of May 31, Confederates began the battle with a head-on charge towards Casey''s Division. Some of the 85th Pennsylvania were on picket duty, the rest were back in camp by two battlefield landmarks -- the Twin Houses and a large wood pile.
    Casey's heavily outnumbered division held off the charging rebels for 2-3 hours, giving part of McClellan's force time to cross the Chickahominy River via the rickety Grapevine Bridge and stabilize the battlefield. The fight ended in a draw with heavy losses on both sides.
    The 85th Pennsylvania suffered about 25 killed (including those who succumbed to wounds) and about 50 more who survived their wounds. Several others were captures. A few who were wounded who were captured and died in Confederate prisons. Several others were exchanged and rejoined the regiment several weeks later.
    The tally below gives the casualties by Company, along with a brief biographical mention of each soldier's service. The list was culled from period newspapers, pension records, the 1860 fedearl census, the 1890 Veteran Schedule and obituaries.

                                          

                          Field and Staff

Wounded        Lt. Col. Henry A. Purviance    [killed in action in 1863]

 Hosp. Stwd. Robinson Elder   [father of 7 children]

                Company A

Killed              Collin W. Barr                        [died at age 25]

 Robert Byers                          [died in Annapolis hospital at age 21]          

 John Low                               [died the next month in Annapolis hospital]

 John A. McMillen                   [died 10 days later in Washington, DC hospital]

Wounded      Corp. R. W. Criswell              [finished 3-year enlistment]

John Patterson                      [refused to allow arm to be amputated]

William Scott                         [recovered in New York City hospital]

Lt. John W. Acheson             [wounded again in 1864]

Joseph Schell                        [finished 3-year enlistment]

                 Company B

Killed             Lt. Julius A. Smith                  [captured; died 1 month later in Libby Prison]

William Howard                      [died at age 32]

John Reily                              [died at age 49]

Jacob Younkin                        [survived by wife and infant son]

William Braden                       [killed carrying Capt. Hooker to safety]

John B. Hayden                      [captured, exchanged, and died 3 months later]

Corp.Abraham Iams               [died at White House Landing, VA]

Wounded       Capt. George H. Hooker         [life saved by Wiliam Braden]

 Owen Turner                           [transferred to Veterans Reserve Corps]

 Joshua Torrence                      [captured in 1864; survived Andersonvile]

 James Speer                           [wounded again in 1864]

 David Miller                             [later wounded in North Carolina, 1863]

 Amos Bane                             [discharged 5 months later]

                  Company C

Wounded       Corp. John Woodward              [killed in action in 1864]

John B. Thompson                    [discharged 8 months later]

James Day                                [wounded again in 1864]

   

Captured        James Beatty                            [exchanged; rejoined regiment]

                   Company D

Killed              Corp. Alexander Morgan        [first listed as MIA; body never identified]

 Sgt. John N. Donagho             [died from wound in Salisbury POW Camp]

Captured        Hezekiah Horn                         [exchanged, finished 3-year enlistment]

                     Company E

Killed             Lt. Thompson Purviance           [cousin of Lt. Col. Henry Purviance]

Lindsay Hartman                       [brother William served in Company E]

Wounded      Sgt. Robert G. Taylor, leg          [discharged 5 months later, paralysis]

Sgt. Moses McKeag, arm          [discharged 1 month later]

Sgt. John Heckard, shoulder     [discharged 11 months later]

Corp. Charles E Eckels             [served 3-year enlistment]

Corp. Martin Pope, hand           [finished 3-year enlistment]

Musc. Samuel Wood, finger      [finished 3-year enlistment]

Rudolph Smith, thigh                 [discharged, date unknown]

Henry J. McAllister, temple        [age 16 at the time of his wounding]

                    Company F

Killed             Richard F. Lewis                        [served in company with brother George]

Cornelius Estrep                        [died 2 months after wounding]

Meeker Rinehart                        [died in Annapolis 5 weeks after wounding]

Wounded       Corp. Morgan Rinehart, neck     [finished 3-year enlistment]

Isaac DeHavely, side                  [wounded again, 1864]

Charles Chapman, cheek           [finished 3-year enlistment]

Jacob West, thigh                       [recovered after 7 months in DC hospital]

Lisbon Scott, hand                      [captured 1864 and survived Andersonville]

Jesse Cheney, hand and thigh   [discharged 1 month later]

Isaac Gray, hand                        [recovered at home; wounded again, 1863]

Samuel Thompson, hand           [lost a finger; served regt. band for 3 years]

Jacob Weaver, hand                  [spent 6 weeks recovering in Annapolis hospital]

Thomas M. Sellers                     [wounded again in 1864]

                     Company G

Killed              Asberry Phillips                         [died 2 days after wounding at Fort Monroe]

                      Corp. Harrison Hoge, knee        [died 10 weeks later]

Wounded        Sergeant James R. Core         [discharged 9 months later]

                       John Cline                                [wounded again in 1863; finished 3-year enlistment]

                    Company H

Killed               Lt. James Hamilton                 [buried on the battlefield]

  John Conn                               [married farmer with 7 children]

  William Hare, chest                 [died by wood pile on battlefield]

Wounded         Corp. George Colburn            [died on disease, 1864]

  James Bird                              [later died of disease with 4^th PA Artilllery]

   Andrew J. Burgess                 [finished 3-year enlistment]

   Reason B. Daniels                  [discharged 10 months later]

   William Dennison                   [died of disease 6 months later]

   Francis D. Morrison                [father of MOH winner Francis Morrison]

   William Muhlenberg               [killed in action in 1864]

   Harrison Younkin                    [discharge 13 months later]

   Thomas J. McClintock            [discharged 6 months later]

   Ross Sterner                           [again wounded in 1863 and 1864]

   James Nichlow                        [finished 3-year enlistment]

   Jesse Peck                              [finished 3-year enlistment]

   Frederick Yurgason                 [killed in action in 1864]

                    Company I

Killed                Corp. James S. Hackney            [died at age 21]

Wounded          Sgt. Lucius Bunting                   [discharged 3 months later]

    Corp.Richard Lincoln, hand      [discharged 7 months later]

    William E. Finley, leg                 [finished 3-year enlistment]

    Cornelius Hennessy, hand        [finished 3-year enlistment]

    Warren Kilgore hand                 [killed at Spotsylvania in 1864]

                     Company K

Wounded           Sgt. Samuel Grim                    [killed in service in 1863]

     Matthew Campbell                  [discharged 19 months later in 1864]

1887 Reunion of the 85th Pennsylvania

       The final chapter of my soon-to-be-published Volume II history of the 85th Pennsylvania regiment covers the annual reunions of the regiment from 1872 to 1928. Luckily, numerous online newspapers from western Pennsylvania helped me to track down the locations and dates of every reunion. Sometimes, a newspaper would simply publish a brief article about the activities and guest speakers at the affair. At other times, the newspaper would publish an extensive article prior to the reunion to discuss the preparations made by the hosting town or city in southwestern Pennsylvania. At other times, the newspaper would send a reporter to cover the one or two-day events, which usually included a parade, a dinner with speakers, and an evening campfire.
  

Union Veterans' Parade
LOC

  Washington, PA was a frequent site for the reunions. This is not surprising, since two full companies of the 85th Pennsylvania and parts of three other companies had men who came from Washington County. 
     The following article appeared in the Washington (PA) Weekly Reporter in 1887. The reporter, who is unnamed, attended the nightly campfire in "Little Washington" and summarized some of the speeches that were made at the event.
    Among the speakers was Harvey J, Vankirk, a prominent lawyer and politician from Little Washington who had served in the 85th Pennsylvania. Another talk was delivered by Washingtonian Boyd Crumrine, also a former member of the regiment who went on to a career in law and local history.
    This reunion was held jointly with another regiment with deeps roots in Washington County, the 100th Pennsylvania, also known as the "Roundheads." The 100th Pennsylvania lost 400 men to battle deaths and diseases during the war. Their highest loss was at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House during Grant's Overland Campaign of 1864. 
    The 100th Pennsylvania was comprised of men from the following western Pennsylvania counties: Washington, Butler, Beaver, Lawrence, Mercer and Westmoreland.

Washington Weekly Reporter

September 2, 1887

THE CAMPFIRE

HELD BY THE VETERANS OF THE 85^TH AND 100^TH

Pennsylvania Regiments, on Wednesday Evening, in the Opera House

         No camp fire ever held in Washington has attracted attention equal to the one held in the opera

The Fairmont West Virginian
May 30, 1908

house Wednesday evening. The building was crowded, many persons having to stand. The exercises were opened with prayer by the Rev. Loyal Young, Arnold’s orchestra furnished the music, which was of a very high order. A quartette consisting of Robert Wright, Ben Wolf, Harry Stevenson and Blanchard Hughes rendered a number of very fine musical selections, among which were “The Soldier’s Farewell,” “Marching Through Georgia,” and others. Comrade A. [Alexander] W.Pollock of the 85^th acted as toast master. The first toast, “The 100^th," was responded to by Chaplain Audley Browne. “The 85^th” was responded to by Captain H. [Harvey] J. Vankirk. He spoke of the services of the 85^th at the front and lamented that some of his old comrades persistently remained unmarried and while he did not wish to be personal, he said that Robert Caldwell and Tommy Griffith were two of them. “The Rank and File” was responded to by Henry Dougan, Esq of the 100^th, of this place. He asserted that the real heroes of the war were the rank and file and that if Grant had not been backed by a brave and loyal rank and file, he could not have been successful. He expressed disbelief in the stories of some historians that Gen. Sherman led the advance at Missionary Ridge, and while he believed that “Little Phil” [Sheridan] did his whole duty on this and every other occasion but he did not believe that either Gen. Sherman, Grant, Sheridan or Thomas were in the line which swept over the ‘ridge” on that memorable occasion.

     “Our Flag” was to have been responded to by Comrade Mountain, but as he was not in the hall Boyd Crumrine, Esq., Washington, took his place. He pictured the dismal time the last, old soldier will have in trying to hold a reunion with lively colors. He said that he did not know who the Mr. Mountain was who had inflicted on him this misery, but he supposed it was Billy Mountain.

     “The Union Soldier in History” was responded to by Congressman [Oscar L.] Jackson of New Castle, who made the speech of the evening. He said that an attempt was being made to write history in a different way from what it should be and that rebel flag order and other things like character would not do. His speech was received with rounds of applause.

     The toast, “The G.A.R.,” was responded to by Comrade [William] Pershing of Cincinnati. “Our Country” was responded to by Captain [Anson B.] Campbell. The most touching toast of the evening, “Those who went and came not,” was responded to by Major James P. Sayer in fitting terms. Comrade Hausman, of Pittsburgh, made the response to the toast, “The Ladies of Washington,” W. [William] H. Underwood was called on to respond to an impromptu toast, “The bummer;” he did it in great style, ending by saying that the best bummer he ever knew was Henry Dougan, Est. Commander [Andrew S.] Eagleson of Wm. F. Templeton Post returned thanks for a picture of General [Daniel] Leasure, presented by J.C. Stevenson, through Congressman Jackson. The camp-fire went out shortly before 11 p.m."

Wheeling, West Virginia
Union vets cross the street
rather than walk under Cleveland ban, substitutener

       The reunion was also covered by the Pittsburgh Daily Post from September 1, 1887. The end of the article speaks of a controversial sign promoting president Grover Cleveland, who was generally unpopular with Civil War Union veterans. Cleveland was a Democrat, the first elected since before the Civil War. Cleveland had avoided Civil War service by hiring a substitute. Finally, Cleveland wanted to put limits on the pension program for Civil War veterans.