Tributes to Colonel Joshua B. Howell

From L.S.Dickey's 1915 History of the 85th Pennsylvania

             Colonel Joshua B. Howell, founder and leader of the 85th Pennsylvania regiment, died on September 14, 1864. While his regiment was encamped at Fort Morton near the famous Petersburg (VA)  Crater, Howell's death occurred nearby at the X Corps headquarters. His death came as the result of a fall from his horse. He was 58 years of age. His long-sought after promotion to general came posthumously.

          Howell had had several close calls with death in the previous year, mostly notably in August of 1863 on Morris Island near Fort Sumter, South Carolina. A bombproof under Howell's command was hit by an enemy shell. Buried under a pile of rubble, Howell nearly died, and was left with a severe concussion from which he never fully recovered. He took several medical leaves from his beloved regiment in the following 12 months, the second time under the supervision of his brother, Dr. Benjamin Howell. 

      

            

Dr. Charles Clark

Howell's death was remembered twenty-five years later by his friend, Dr. Charles Clark, the surgeon and later historian for the 39th Illinois who had treated him after his riding accident. In 1889, Clark wrote. "On the morning of the 13th, we were painfully shocked to hear that Colonel Howell, then temporarily commanding the Third Division, had been seriously injured the previous evening by the falling of his horse. His clothing and even his sash and sword were still on him...the Colonel was placed aboard and taken to the Brigade Hospital...he was suffering from a severe concussion of the brain and possible hemorrhage. it was evident, however, that he could not live. He remained unconscious up to a few moments before dissolution, when he opened his eyes an effort to speak, but was unintelligible." [Yates Phalanx, Charles Clark, 171]

          Colonel Howell's untimely death was a dark day in the history of the 85th Pennsylvania regiment. Had he lived another month, he would have had the opportunity to return home to western Pennsylvania with the majority of his regiment, whose three-year enlistments were about the expire 

          Weeks prior to his death, Howell had been promoted to acting commander of the Third Division in the X Corps of the Army of the James. Howell's personal horse had been injured so he was riding a substitute at the time that was said to have a sensitive mouth and did not respond well to its reins being pulled. Howell's body was sent back to New Jersey near his boyhood home for burial. 

          Nine days prior to his death, Howell wrote proudly to his daughter that, "To my great surprise I received an order last week assigning me to the command of this [Third] Division due to the illness of [the] General commanding, who had gone on to Fort Monroe. It is a high compliment from Corps Head Qrs. and a responsible command." [Book of John Howell and his Descendants, p.453]

        This account of Howell's death appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer five days after the event.

       "A very great calamity befell the Tenth Army Corps in the sudden and lamentable death of Brigadier-General [actually his rank in the state militia] Joshua B. Howell , commanding a brigade in Major General A.H. Terry's division.The circumstances were as follows: Shortly after dinner, Gen. Howell proposed to mount his horse and ride to a point somewhat distant from his quarters. He had only succeeded in gaining his position on his horse, which was exceedingly uneasy at the bit, when the general unfortunately grasping the wrong rein, the horse suddenly careened and fell backward, falling wholly on the person of the deceased, where he remained. His orderly at once rushed to the general's rescue, and with much exertion got his prostrate form from beneath the vicious animal. Being borne to his quarters he was found to be insensible, and did not rally to the last. He died in the evening, and his embalmed body is now on its way to his Pennsylvania [actually New Jersey] home."

        Howell's posthumous promotion to Brigadier General was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in February of 1865, to be postdated from the day of his death. 

         Howell's last corps commander. General Alfred Terry, wrote this touching tribute to Howell in 1882. "At this distance of time, I cannot speak of General Howell's military career, but my recollection of him as a man and an officer are as clear and distinct as they were eighteen years ago. I have never known a more courteous gentleman; I never saw a more gallant and devoted officer. The record of his service was without spot or blemish...His untimely death was lamented by all his comrades as a loss wellnigh irreparable..." [The Book of John Howell and His Descendants, pp. 429-30]

             Soon after his death, General John G. Foster named a fort in Howell's honor at Mitchelville on

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, near where Howell and his regiment were stationed in early 1863. The structure, built by the 32nd U.S. Colored Regiment,  has been historically preserved. 

           Furthermore, a Grand Army of the Republic post, Post #31 in Woodbury,  New Jersey, was named in Howell's honor. Howell was born in New Jersey in 1800 and lived there until moving to Uniontown in the late 1820's.

The Morning Post   Camden, NJ   8-19-1887

The article at left from 1887 describes the donation of Howell's sword to the G.A.R. Post named in his honor by his second wife, Katherine. Joshua B. Howell's first wife, Mary, died in 1852. Howell married Katherine two years later. Katherine Howell died in 1898 and is buried in Delaware.

            In the years following his death, his regiment worked to keep Howell's memory alive. In 1890, a Washington County newspaper reported that, "The local committee of the 85th regiment yesterday made a contract with C.S. Kilpatrick, the Connellsville artist, to paint a life-size picture of Col. Joshua B. Howell. The canvas will be about 4 x 7 feet and the painting will represent the colonel in a standing posture, dressed in full uniform, with sword in hand, a camp scene in the rear. It is to be completed in September [in one month] and will be on exhibition at the regimental reunion [at Uniontown] here September 1." [The Canonsburg [PA] Notes, 8-16-1890, p.2]

       Around 1904, it seems that the portrait of Howell was donated to the Fayette County Courthouse in Uniontown. As of 1964, according to a local newspaper, it was still hanging in Courtroom No. 1. But at some point it the next nine years, the portrait became lost. 

        In 1973, the Evening Standard newspaper of Uniontown carried a headline that read, "Judge Feigus Seeks Portrait of Howell." The accompanying story outlined the mission of Judge Samuel Feigus. 

        "An oil portrait that hung in Courtroom No. 1 here at the courthouse for many years is being sought by Judge Samuel J. Feigus. Judge Feigus has been working on a history of the county bar Association, the courts, its judges, and other famous figures associated with the court in past years. The picture in question is a full-length portrait of Brig. Gen. Joshua B. Howell, at one time a member of the county bar association. 

      "It was procured on April 11, 1904 and for dozens of years adorned Courtroom No. 1...Anyone with information on the missing portrait who would like to aid Judge Feigus in his historical research is asked to contact him..." [Evening Standard, 5-2-1973,  p.6]

      It is unknown if Judge Feigus successfully tracked down the location of the Howell portrait or its current whereabouts. Feigus died a year later in 1974.

        More recently, Howell's likeness was recently added to the Gloucester County Wall of Heroes in the county justice complex in New Jersey. 

Glouceser County, NJ Wall of Heroes
https://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/2011/02/wall_of_heroes_brig_gen_joshua.html

     

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.

        

   

"It was Braddock's defeat after the lapse of a century"

From F.W. Little's The Seventh Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers (1896)

      Included in an 1882 book entitled, History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania is a group of brief biographies of prominent county citizens. One of those profiles was for the late Joshua Blackwood Howell, the colonel of the 85th Pennsylvania regiment. Howell was a leading attorney in Uniontown, PA prior to the Civil War. He suffered from a concussion on Morris Island, South Carolina in 1863 while commanding trench operations. The next year, 1864, Howell died as the result of a fall from his horse while stationed in Virginia.
        In Howell's biographical entry from the book about Fayette County is this tantalizing passage concerning Union General Truman Seymour's ill-fated Florida expedition in February of 1864, resulting in the disastrous loss at the Battle of Olustee:

     "He [Howell] was ordered with his brigade to Hilton Head [SC] to relieve Gen. [Truman] Seymour, in command of that district....Seymour had been ordered to Florida in command of that unfortunate expedition which resulted in the disaster of Olustee, upon the occasion of which he publicly remarked, 'This would not have occurred if I had Howell and his gallant boys with me.'"

       The purported Seymour quote heaped praise on Howell's "gallant boys," which probably meant the 85th Pennsylvania and the rest of Howell's brigade that included the 39th Illinois, 62nd Ohio and 67th Ohio. But is it true?
        If correct,  it is also a rather startling admission from Seymour, whose nearly 2,000 casualties and a 34% casualty rate at Olustee was staggering. Could Howell's command really have made a difference in the face of such huge losses?
       Also, one must ask, who or what is source for this comment? The History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania was published eighteen years after the battle. The work was edited by Franklin Ellis, but the author(s) of the individual biographies of the prominent residents is not disclosed.
     Under what circumstance could Seymour have made such a statement? Was it part of an interview?  Was it immediate frustration expressed upon his return to South Carolina?  Perhaps he said it to praise Howell on the occasion of Howell's untimely death later that year (1864).
        If Seymour thought so highly of Howell's men, why was Howell's brigade left on Hilton Head Island for the Florida campaign? The reason is that many men in his brigade had been rewarded with  30-day furloughs to travel back home because they had extended their enlistment past the original three-year commitment.
        Ironically, Howell's own regiment, the 85th Pennsylvania, did not re-enroll enough soldiers to be called a veteran volunteer regiment; the other three regiments in Howell's brigade did earn the distinction. In a subject covered in my book about the 85th Pennsylvania, Such Severe and Hard Service, most men in the 85th PA deplored the leadership style of Lieutenant Colonel Edward Campbell and refused to extend their service.
       The next question is: Did Seymour actually make the "public" statement that he would have been victorious at Olustee if Howell's brigade had been there with him? After an extensive internet search, I could not find this quotation by Seymour. This does not mean that the statement was not made, only that I could not find it. I would like to invite a reader to contact me if he/she finds evidence that Seymour actually made the statement.
     However, the next question is: Could Seymour have made this statement? I believe the answer is yes.
      By the start of 1864, Howell's brigade had established a sturdy reputation. They had been unfairly disparaged by George B. McClellan at Seven Pines (VA) in 1862, but played a key role during the Goldsboro Expedition later that year, and had survived onerous trench digging duties on Morris Island (SC) in 1863, suffering more casualties than any other Union regiment stationed on the island. The other three regiments had all fought well in the west before coming under Howell's command in early 1863.
       The goals of Seymour's Florida expedition were to disrupt Confederate supply lines, search for prospective black troops, and perhaps coax the state away from supporting the Confederacy. After several movements against little opposition, Seymour decided to move inland towards the state capital at Tallahassee. He set out towards the interior of the state with 5,500 men. At Olustee, he met an entrenched Confederate force of 5000 under the command of Irish-born Brigadier General Joseph Finegan.
     One key regiment in  the Union assault was the 7th New Hampshire, a quality regiment that had just added 300 new draftees and enlistees. Their inexperience helped cause them to break and retreat at a key moment in the Olustee fight.
     In his official report five days after the battle to his superior, Quincy Gillmore, Seymour wrote:

General Truman Seymour    LOC

 "The colored troops behaved creditably—the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts and First North Carolina like veterans. It was not in their conduct that can be found the chief cause of failure, but in the unanticipated yielding of a white regiment from which there was every reason to expect noble service, and at a moment when everything depended upon its firmness. The misfortune arose, doubtless, from this regiment having lately been filled with conscripts and substitutes, of a very inferior class. The issue, so finely drawn that the battle was nearly equal to its very close, the enemy's losses as heavy as my own, ground firmly held to the last, the admirable temper of the command all indicate that but for the disparity arising from the causes indicated, this might fairly have been a victory."

         Seymour undoubtedly was referring to the 7th New Hampshire as the "white regiment" that unexpectedly yielded.
          Two weeks after the battle, a letter from an anonymous soldier in the 7th New Hampshire appeared in the Boston Herald (March 4, 1864). The soldier noted that his regiment had earlier been furnished with new Spencer carbine rifles. But prior to the Florida expedition, these weapons were taken away, replaced with damaged muskets that often did not function. Many lacked ramrods; all lacked bayonets. Referring to 300 new additions to his regiment, the soldier noted that many were German and French Canadian substitutes who spoke no English. 

        Seymour made his share of mistakes at Olustee. He advanced inland against Gillmore's orders. He misjudged the size and make-up of his opposition. He fed his regiments into the battle in piecemeal fashion. Nonetheless, he may have thought the more experienced men of Howell's Brigade would have stood and fought, giving him a better chance of emerging victorious. His official report seemed to pin the blame on one regiment, the 7th New Hampshire. So he is on the record suggesting that one regiment or one brigade would have made the difference. Correct or not, I believe he could have made the statement about Howell's "gallant boys." 

  
 NOTE: The quote in the title  of this entry is from Joseph T. Wilson's The Black Phalanx; African American Soldiers In the War of Independence, The War of 1812, And The Civil War. It refers to the disastrous defeat of English General Edward Braddock in 1755 in western Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War. 

   

a

He Wanted to Enlist But Was Turned Down

          James Guthrie Johnston  (1835-1929) was 26 years old and already a prominent citizen of Uniontown when the Civil War began. Like Colonel Joshua B. Howell, the founder of the 85th Pennsylvania regiment, Johnston was an attorney. He was also active in local politics, soon to be elected Burgess of Uniontown.
   But Johnston was willing to put his career on hold in order to volunteer for the 85th Pennsylvania. One can envision Johnston having a prominent role on Howell's staff as an adjutant or aide-de-camp.
    However, Johnston's goal of marching off to war would not be fulfilled. Biographer William Cooke wrote this in a brief 20th century account of Johnston's life.

James Guthrie Johnston 
Recollections of James Guthrie Johnston

"It was with deep regret that James G. Johnston saw them march away without him. The examining surgeon rejected him because of pulmonary symptoms. Many members of the regiment were his close personal friends including Colonel Howell and Lt. Colonel Edward C. Campbell."
       These words came from a compilation of Johnston's writing  by Cooke entitled, Recollections of James Guthrie Johnston.
     Although disappointed, Johnston did take part in a civic occasion that involved the 85th Pennsylvania.
       Shortly before the regiment left Camp Lafayette for their first assignment in Washington, DC, a public ceremony was held. A silk regimental flag was presented to Howell by the women of Uniontown, Money for flag was raised by Sarah Beazell, Rachel Smith, Mrs. Arnold Plumer, Harriet Skiles Mary Veech and Mary Ewing.
    Johnston would later become a noted public speaker, but his speech on November 18, 1861 for the flag presentation was the first public oration of his career.

Flag Bearer Image by Thomas Nast
Harpers Weekly  September 20, 1862

   The flag was sewn by 40-year old Elizabeth Beeson Hadden, whose 16-year old son, James, would later write both a brief history of the regiment as well as a history of Uniontown. The stars and the figure "85" were gilded onto the flag by William A. Donaldson, a coach and carriage painter who later owned a paint shop in Uniontown.
    Howell handed the flag to Joseph Reager of Company B, the first flag bearer for the regiment. Reager's brother, Henry L. Regar, was a Mexican War veteran and the head
 musician for the 85th Pennsylvania.
      Following the war, Johnston was the owner of the American Standard newspaper for several years. Johnston was born in Luzerne Township, Fayette County and graduated from Jefferson College in 1857. He was admitted to the bar in 1860. Although a Democrat in his early life, he switched to the Republican Party in 1860.
        He moved to Washington, DC as an attorney for the General Land Office of the Interior Department. While in the capitol, he became friends with James B. Blaine, President James Garfield and President William McKinley. While in Washington, he was perpertually promoting Fayette County to reporters and audiences. For the rest of his life, he always went home to Uniontown to cast his vote.

Uniontown Morning Herald
February 12, 1846

      But before leaving for Washington in the late 1860's, Johnston played one other prominent role in the history of Uniontown. In 1866, along with Andrew Stewart, Jr. (formerly of the 85th Pennsylvania). Johnston helped organize the first baseball club in the city, called 'Vantage." Their first game was played 1866 against a team from Waynesburg, Greene County. The final score was 43-35. Johnston also played in the game as the starting pitcher. He later reminisced that the fielders wore no gloves and the umpire and catcher wore no padded protection.

Library of Congress

    Johnston died in 1929 at the age of 93 and is buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Uniontown.

                                                    From the Waynesburg Republican
                                                              October 24, 1866

The Capture of Captain John E. Michener

       

Whitemarsh Island Assault by Captains George H. Hooker and Robert P. Hughes
February 22, 1864     Map Courtesy of Craig Swain

         The last seven paragraphs of this entry is a lengthy quote from the 1867 book entitled "Prison Life" about the capture of Captain John E. Michener on Whitemarsh Island near Savannah, Georgia in 1864. Michener had spent the first 2 1/2 years of the war as a lieutenant in Company D of the 85th Pennsylvania. In early 1864, he was promoted to be captain of Company K. The Whitemarsh Expedition marked his first field command with his new company.

       I earlier have written about Michener's captivity in an article for Military Images magazine entitled, "Following the Torn and Bloodstained Colors: John Michener's Civil War Odyssey." This article features letters from Michener and his family as well as newspaper accounts of his captivity, courtesy of descendant Margaret Thompson.

         I have also written extensively about the Whitemarsh Island Expedition in my soon to be published Volume II history of the 85th Pennsylvania entitled, "Such Hard and Severe Service: The 85th Pennsylvania in the Civil War, 1864-1865" from by Monongahela Books.

       This author of "Prison Life," T.J. Simpson, offers further details about Michener's role the expedition and the early days of his time as a prisoner of war. Future posts will give additional details about Michener's time in captivity.

         The one-day expedition from Hilton Head to Whitemarsh Island, led by Colonel Joshua B. Howell of the 85th Pennsylvania, was intended to capture around 300 [Simpson said it was 500] contraband workers who were building defenses for the Confederacy. One report, which was accurate, said that some Confederate troops had been sent from Savannah to Florida, leaving Savannah under-defended. This action by the Confederates was meant to deal with Union General Truman's Seymour's Florida campaign that began with landing at Jacksonville and ended with a lopsided Confederate victory at Olustee.

Slaves Building Confederate Earthworks
Mississippi Dept of Archives and History

     The Whitemarsh Expedition was led by Colonel Joshua B. Howell of the 85th Pennsylvania. Accompanying the Howell regiment were elements of the 4th New Hampshire and 67th Ohio.

     The expedition landed successfully on February 22. Confederate pickets on the beachhead quickly fled with Michener and 20 men from his company (K) in hot pursuit. Michener was  under the command of Captain George Hooker, who was tasked with capturing a bridge between Whitemarsh and Oatland Islands and thus prevent the Confederates from sending re-enforcements.

       Michener and his men made it across the bridge but were confronted with an earthwork with a small two-gun battery.

Captain George H. Hooker
85th PA

Guiding the Union mission were several escaped slaves from the area who knew the terrain. But the fugitives did not know of the battery that had been built since their escape.

       Hooker's men halted their attempt to capture the Oatland Bridge. But as Simpson described, Michener and his sergeant from Company K, James C. Bailey, were trapped trying to re-cross the bridge. Near the interior of the island, another member of the 85th Pennsylvania, Private Eli F. ("Frank") Shallenberger of Company C, became separated from his Hughes' team and was also captured. Everyone in the expedition except for these three unfortunate captives were able to safely return to their boats and return to Hilton Head Island.

        This account below, in Michener's words as told to author Simpson,  is somewhat critical of Captain Hooker for not sending expected re-enforcements in a timely manner to help Michener's men escape from the other side of the bridge.

         "On the 21^st of February, 1864, while the Florida campaign [Olustee] was in progress, General Joshua B. Howell, commanding the district [that consisted of] Hilton Head, St. Helena’s Island and Fort Pulaski, embarked from Hilton Head Island, with the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers and Fourth New Hampshire, for a small island about four miles distant from Savannah, Georgia known as White-Marsh Island. Upon this island some five hundred negroes were actively engaged in throwing up breastworks under the protection and supervision of about two hundred rebel troops. This island is about three miles wide and is connected with the main land by a wooden bridge. To destroy the [Oatland] bridge, so as to prevent succor from Savannah; attack and scatter or capture the rebel troops guarding the negroes; destroy the works and bring off these negroes to Hilton Head, were the objects of this expedition.

"Prison Life"
T.J. Simpson  1867

           "The destruction of the bridge, the first and most important object to be accomplished, was assigned to companies B, D, E, H, I and K of the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers under the direction of Captain George H. Hooker, acting assistant adjutant general to General Howell. The transports arriving a short distance above Fort Pulaski, dropped anchor and launched the small boats for the above-mentioned detachment. These boats were designed to carry from twenty to thirty men, each but having been lying up in the hot sun for months at Hilton Head, they were wholly unfit for the service. Many of them filled with water as soon as launched, and sunk immediately, while the others were only kept afloat by constant bailing.

           "This detachment was to proceed some three miles up a small sluggish creek and get in the rear of the enemy before the transports landed the remained of the troops at the front approaches to the island. It was long after midnight when the order 'cast off' was given and the tide coming in greatly assisted the strong but muffled paddles and caused the awkward and leaky boats to shoot through the water with astonishing rapidity.

           "The night was calm – the 'wind slept soundly'—while the twinkling stars in the hazy sky relieved the midnight darkness. The moon at length peered above the horizon and shone with a mellow light as she travelled from cloud to cloud. The snake-like stream, stirred by the many muffled oars, sparkled on its winding way, lending a soft attraction to the gloomy marsh. Far along its grassy borders the tall, green seaweed formed beautiful arches, through which the silent moonbeams crept as if to smile upon those daring men as they noiselessly glided along in their frail boats…

             "Arriving at the island, a dash was made for the shore, which was quickly gained without the loss of a man. The rebel picket only fired a single volley and then fled like frightened deer. Captain Hooker directed Captain Michener to deploy his company (K) as skirmishers – pursued the retreating pickets with all possible haste and gain the bridge before the alarm could spread among the enemy.

LOC

"After penetrating the dense timber and undergrowth for nearly a mile, Captain Michener came to a cleared field only a few hundred yards from the bridge. To his astonishment he discovered what appeared to be an earthwork but a few rods distant from the opposite end of the bridge. Halting for a moment, he sent his orderly sergeant back to confer with Captain Hooker and request him to come up. In a few moments this gallant officer arrived in company with Captain [Rolla] Phillips of Company D. they however doubted the fact of the enemy having a fortification there and agreed with the negro-guide (who had only escaped from the rebels a few weeks before) that it was only ‘earth-houses occupied by the colored folks,’ and Captain Hooker ordered Captain Michener to advance upon the bridge. Captain Michener still insisted that it was a battery and having only twenty men of his company with him asked for more men, stating that if he found it to be an earthwork when he arrived at the bridge, he would try and take it. Captain Hooker said it was not necessary, that he would support him.  ‘Yes’ responded Captain Phillips. ‘Michener, we will be at your heels.’ Captain Michener advanced at double-quick and on arriving at the bridge, discovered that his suspicions were correct and that the enemy had a small earthwork with one gun in position and the panic-stricken rebels trying to get up a second one. Believing to retreat would expose him to a close and galling fire and seeing but few rebels in the fort, he resolved to charge it. With a shout the gallant captain and his brave boys dashed towards the bridge, which was soon gained when the rebels opened upon them with one volley of grape, but the gun being too much depressed, the shot fell short and did no other damage other than to splinter a portion of  the bridge, a fragment of which struck Captain Michener, felling him to the ground. Quickly springing to hie feet, he dashed across the bridge with only ten men, the rest stopping short of the bride and seeking shelter from the shower of musketry concentrated upon them. With this immortal ten, Captain Michener pushed fearlessly up to within fifty yards of the earthwork; but finding no support coming up, as had been promised, he at once saw the folly of hurling those few devoted followers against the fort. Seeing a small embankment near the ditch to the left, he quickly deployed his men behind it and lying flat upon the ground, opened a brisk fire upon the enemy, killing one man and two horses. Here this little Spartan band fought bravely for more than an hour, waiting for reinforcements and not permitting a rebel to raise his head above the parapet. What an hour was that! Lying almost under the very shadow of the fort, with two guns and two hundred muskets concentrated upon them, how desperately they fought and how anxiously they looked for the promised supports. A half hour passes, the enemy is still held at bay, and now they listen for the shouts of their comrades rushing to the rescue. They load and fire again, rebels fall from the parapet; another half hour passes; the bloody strife continues, but no supports have arrived; the moment is big with danger; to advance is death, to retreat is almost hopeless, to remain longer in than position was certain destruction. Oh! That relief would come. They read each other’s thoughts in their anxious countenances; death is preferable to surrender, and a soldier’s glory is to fall, if fall he must, with his face to that foe.

Lt. Norman B. Ream
Dickey's History of the 85th PA

       "Lieutenant [Norman B.] Ream of Company H, a brave and gallant officer, had been ordered by Captain Hooker to hasten with his men to the aid of Captain Michener while he was thus being overpowered by the enemy. He had proceeded but a short distance, however, when he fell, severely wounded.  His comrades at once endeavored to carry him back to the boats, but were so hotly pursued by the rebels that the brave lieutenant requested them to lay him down and make their escape, saying it was better for him to fall into the hands of the enemy than for them all to be captured. They persistently refused, however, and finally succeeded in reaching the boats in safety with their noble but suffering leader.

         "At length, despairing of aid and knowing the hopelessness of their condition, they resolved to attempt escape at least by crawling through the marsh to the stream and swimming to the bridge. They gain the bridge; the heroic spirit that had sustained them through the last dreadful hour now yields to excitement. Captain Michener entreats them to be calm and courageous, that they would either escape or die together. He orders them to cross over, one at a time, so as not to

Captain John E. Michener
Courtesy of Ron Coddington

draw the enemy’s fire and resolves himself to bring up the rear. The first crosses, safely, and then the second and the third, but the rebels have discovered the skillful maneuver; they make a flank movement and gain the abutment of the bridge just in time to intercept the captain and his last man, Corporal [James C.] Bailey. The captain might have escaped with the first that crossed the bride if he had consulted his own safety alone, but acting the part of a true soldier and unselfish commander, he determined to see his comrades safely over before fleeing himself from danger, and thus, on the 22^nd day of February, 1864, fell into the hands of the enemy.”

NEXT: The early days of captivity for Michener, Bailey and Shallenberger.

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