The One Hundred and Fifty-Third Pennsylvania Volunteers from Northampton County Part One: September to Chancellorsville Formed: September 22nd, 1862
On August 4th, 1862, a request from Washington stated that a quota of 300,000 volunteers. Pennsylvania was able to provide 45,321 volunteers Many men who knew that their involvement in the war was inevitable had been training privately before they got their call. The rst meeting in Easton took place on September 22nd, 1862 & the men stayed in the city for the 23rd & 24th until they boarded a train to Harrisburg, arriving at 10 o’clock in the evening. The men slept in the cars of the train that night before they marched to Camp Curtin. They were introduced to the Army Tents & a reciting of the 91 Psalms with prayer & singing to follow. It was there that they were trained. “We soon became inured to the restraint of army discipline, and eagerly sought the equipment necessary for service” (Page 15 Kiefer). Many men wrote poetry, letters & the artists sketched drawings. There were even men who had brought College Textbooks with which they read to take up the down time of being at Camp Curtin. The author exclaims that they had enough books to ll a small library. The men grew a bit disgruntled at the fact that they were spending time in a type of detention without pay until Col. Glanz stepped in & solved the matter for the men. He was a beloved Colonel & brought a large amount of cheer to the men of the regiment. They received all of their equipment between October 7th & October 11th. They boarded a train for Baltimore on the 11th & had to spend two nights without moving. They, to their dismay, returned to Camp Curtin. Then on the 18th, the 153rd PA boarded a train headed for Baltimore where when they arrived, they were well fed. Sleeping at the Railroad Station in Baltimore, they headed for Washington on the 19th. The set up camp at Camp Seward. They moved to Camp Barker & received the news that they were going to be adjoined with the XI Corps. On the 30th of October they joined General Sigel in Gainesville, Virginia. They would stay there for about 10 days when they’d leave & head toward Aldie. They would then march toward Chantily, arriving on the 18th of November. During the march, the regiment passed by Manassas, Virginia, which was a bit of a blow to morale given the sound defeat in August earlier that year. The 153rd spent 22 days encamped in Chantilly. They then moved to Fairfax & then Sta ord Courthouse. “The starvation period at Sta ord & the Mud March from Fairfax to Sta ord are events that cannot be forgotten” (16 Kiefer). After this period they moved to Accokeek Creek where some of the regiment began serving pickett duty for the rst time. Next came Brooks Station and camping in the nearby woods. Men from the out t spent time guarding the railroad. It was after this that the Regiment nally settled in its Winter Quarters at Potomac Creek Bridge. (1862-63) The camp where they were stationed was commonly called “Brooks Station” The regiment was close to Fredericksburg during the battle of Fredericksburg in December, however they were not deemed necessary for the battle. A long, hard winter laid before them.
The 153rd Pennsylvania remained there for four months where disease & death was feverly present. After Burnside had been replaced by Hooker, the men from the regiment moved on March 27th toward the battle eld of Chancellorsville. The author of the text compared their position, the XI Corps, Von Gilsa’s Brigade, to that of a lone kid before a crouching lion. He compared the Confederate attack to that of a hoard of beasts eeing a forest re. The erce ank movement of Jackson’s Corps crushed their line. The whole right ank of the Union Army, up in the air, was rolled back. Fragmented parts of the XI Corps were regrouping, disorganized around Dowdall’s Tavern. Buschbeck’s line held for a moment, but the force was too much for the defense to hold & so they retreated. General Hooker was in a state of being concussed, I believe, & it was General Hancock of the 2nd Corps who rallied the men. General Hancock & his strong stature gave the men some hope & a good bit of the defensive line on May 3-4th was forti ed in part because of Hancock’s action to ride out & calm the shock of the prior engagement. There were words that some scouts up in the trees on the outskirts of the forest that is called the Wilderness saw enemy movement around the ank. Jackson initially was going to hit them a bit farther South until he marched West & then back East to the XI Corps weak line. The communication was lacking or any reports were essentially ignored, only of course unless it was too late to do anything about two strong divisions rushing down right on a ank that was up in the air prepared to ght to the South & to get hit on their West. After being driven back by the ank attack by Jackson’s entire corps, the 153rd forti ed to an extent, but were mainly kept back of the main line of defense on May 3rd & 4th. The 153rd PA regiment was the rst to be hit in the anking attack & because of Hooker’s decision to move back across the Rappahannock, the regiment was the last to retire across the river. This is what is stated by the author, given the time & the military maps that they were able to retrieve in the aftermath of the Battle of Chancellorsville. “Quoting from the diary of the writer the following appears....Sat, the 2nd, lay on arms all night, slept in woods. Firing commenced early this morning. Heavy cannonading toward Fredericksburg, and south of us all day, more or less. Attack expected at several places. The 153d did the rst ring at 2 or 4pm. The 1st brigade was the rst attacked. A ne day.” (20 Kiefer) Before they were attacked, the author was writing a poem. It is here featured:
Written Just Before the Battle by W. R. Kiefer.
Both lovely and calm is the morning, That now nds us silently here; Though sleepless we lay till the dawning To watch lest the foe should appear. Though in danger with enemies around us, ‘Midst con icts that just took an end. We calmly returned to this ambush And pickets to stations did send. Commanded by brave-hearted leaders. We stopped not to doubt of success; But soldier-like march out to meet those Who sought our ranks to suppress I look upon all that surrounds me--- I see that danger is nigh: That thousands of armed men await us, And scores of us shortly will die. The sorrows that now swell each bosom, Are not visibly seen; But one thing doth truly assure me, That all are so calm and serene. By waiting the future oft tell us Of solemn events yet unseen; But O, how inquiringly anxious To know who shall fall in the scene. Though grave may be each one’s expression, And seemingly pious be found, With great lamentation for error Will many a bosom abound. Not riches nor friends can relieve them, When death shall their bodies embrace, Much less can the worldling deprive them If Jesus should grant them His grace.
Abner Doubleday would write an account of the battle:
“Hooker soon found himself hampered in every direction by dense and almost impenetrable thickets, which had a tendency to break up every organization that tried to pass through them into mere crowds of men without order or alignment. Under these circumstances concert of action became exceedingly di cult, and when attempts were made to communicate orders o of the road, aides wandered hopelessly through the woods, struggling in the thick undergrowth, without being able to nd any one. The enemy, of course, was also impeded in their movement, but they had the advantage of being better acquainted with the country, and in case they were beaten they had a line at Tabernacle Church already entrenched to fall back upon. The ravines also, which crossed the upper roads at right angles, o ered excellent defensive positions for them.”
Extract: O. O Howard Report on Chancellorsville (Full Report Pictured Below)
“The country around Chancellorsville for the most part is wilderness, with but here and there an opening. If we consult the recent maps (no good ones existed before the battle). We notice that the two famous rivers, the Rapidan and the Rappahannock, join at a point due North of Chancellorsville, thence the Rappanhannock runs easterly for two miles, till suddenly at the United States Ford it turns and ows South for a mile and a half and then, turning again, completes a horse shoe bend. Here, on the South shore, was General Hooker’s Battle-Line on the morning of the 2d of May 1863. Here his ve army corps, those of Meade, Slocum, Sickles, and Howard, were deployed. The face was toward the South and the ranks mainly occupied a ridge nearly parallel with the Rapidan….2 pages of report later...As to pickets, each division had a good line of them. My aide, Major Charles H. Howard, assisted in connecting them between divisions, and during the 2nd of May, that fearless and faithful sta -o cer, Major E. Whitlesey, rode the entire circuit of their front to stimulate them to special activity. Those of Devens were thrown out at a distance from a half-mile to a mile and stretching well around, covering our right ank, and the picket-posts in front of the pike were over two miles beyond the main line….Meanwhile the Confederate General Rodes had been reaching his place in the wilderness. At 4pm his men were in position; the line of battle of his own brigade touched the pike west of us with its right, and stretched away to the North; beyond his brigade came Iverson’s in the same line. One the right of the pike was Dole’s brigade, and to his right Colquitt’s. One hundred yards to the rear was Trimble’s (Colston commanding) with Ramseur on the right following Colquitt...followed by the division of A.P. Hill. The advanced Confederate Division had more men in it than there were in the Eleventh Corps now in position. Counting the ranks of the formidable column, beginning with the enveloping skirmish line, we nd seven, besides the 3 ranks of le-closers. Many of them were brought into such a position by the entanglements of the forest, and gave our men the idea that battalions were formed in close columns double on the center. With as little noise as possible, a little after 5 pm, the steady advance of the enemy began. Its rst lively e ects, like a cloud of dust driven before a coming shower, appeared in the startled rabbits, squirrels, quail, etc.”
Some Federal troops resisted the advance. The New York and Pennsylvania brigade of Colonel Adolphus Buschbeck rallied brie y with the Ohio battery of Captain Hubert Dilger near Dowdall’s Tavern, but they too were eventually overwhelmed by the Rebel onslaught (Battle elds.org).
During the attack, Colonel Glanz was captured, as the 153rd was lucky to escape without being captured as a whole unit. He was sent to Libby Prison for 45 days until June 16th when he was released by a prisoner exchange and met back up with his regiment at Goose Creek. The 153rd was full of joy to see their old Colonel, but he was too ill from Libby Prison to make the march to Gettysburg. General Howard, of the XI Corps, ordered him to travel to Washington to seek care, which he did, before returning home to Easton where he was able to go back to his brewery. When the regiment was mustered out on July 24th and a parade was held in Easton, Colonel Glanz among his men received an overwhelming ovation from the crowd that gathered there.
33 enlisted men were captured, including the Colonel. Nineteen men were killed. Lieutenant Colonel Jacob Dachrodt, Major Fruea , Captain Owen Rice of Company A, Second Lieutenant Conrad Reyer of Company H, and 53 enlisted men were wounded
While with the aftermath of Chancellorsville, the Army of the Potomac slowly, but surely began to pursue Gen. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia who were heading up toward Harrisburg, shielded by the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Below is the full report from General O. O. Howard regarding Chancellorsville Including a very nice picture of the General
T o Be Continued in Part 2
The Pursuit of General Lee’s Invasion into Pennsylvania June 30th The Battle of Gettysburg: Day One-Hurry to Barlow’s Knoll. Retreat to Cemetery Hill Day Two-East Cemetery Hill; Hello Louisiana Tigers! Thanks Ohio. Day Three: The Fierce Cannonade & Victory July 4th: Paroling the Town of Gettysburg in the pouring rain. July 5th: July 24th- Pursuing General Lee and the ANV July 24th: Mustered Out of the Army of the Potomac
Get done by Wednesday April 28th, 2021 & Email to Darin & Mare
Primary Source: “History of the One Hundred and Fifty-Third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers AInfantry” Which was recruited in Northampton County, Pa. 1862-1863. Scholar Select. William R. Kiefer, Newton Heston Mack.
Another Source: https://civilwarintheeast.com/us-regiments-batteries/pennsylvania/153rd-pennsylvania-infantry/