THE AYER FAMILY – 1802 TO 1903 VOLUME 2 – IRA AYER, JR. Bill Scholtz Draft April 21, 2013 Contents Table of Contents Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ ii Table of Figures ................................................................................................................. iv Ira Ayer, Jr. ......................................................................................................................... 1 Young Ira ............................................................................................................................ 2 Ira Goes to War ................................................................................................................... 7 The Start of the Civil War ............................................................................................... 7 Ira Is Mustered In .......................................................................................................... 11 Washington, DC ............................................................................................................ 15 In Enemy Territory ....................................................................................................... 18 The Battle of Dranesville (20 December 1861) ............................................................ 20 Peninsula Campaign (March – July 1862) .................................................................... 23 The Seven Days Battles (25 June – 1 July 1862) ...................................................... 25 The Second Battle of Bull Run (29-30 August 1862)................................................... 33 Major Ayer .................................................................................................................... 35 Ira and Jennie Get Married ............................................................................................... 43 Jennie and Ira Meet ....................................................................................................... 43 Ira and Jennie **** ....................................................................................................... 45 The Battle of Gettysburg (1-3 July 1863) ..................................................................... 49 In Pursuit of Lee (July – December 1863) .................................................................... 53 Lieutenant Colonel Ayer ............................................................................................... 58 The Wedding ................................................................................................................. 60 The Love Letter Period ..................................................................................................... 69 The First Phase .............................................................................................................. 69 Jennie Goes to War ....................................................................................................... 75 The Second Phase ......................................................................................................... 77 The Battle of the Wilderness (5-7 May 1864) .............................................................. 81 The End of the War ........................................................................................................... 85 Young Jennie is born in NY.......................................................................................... 86 Ira Re-enlists ................................................................................................................. 86 Richmond, Ashland and Reconstruction ........................................................................... 90 Post-War Richmond ...................................................................................................... 90 A City in Ruins ......................................................................................................... 90 Reconstruction .............................................................................................................. 93 The House Across from the Railroad............................................................................ 94 Ira In the Military Round Two ...................................................................................... 96 Ira Transfers to Georgia ***** ..................................................................................... 96 Ira Transfers to Ashland *****................................................................................... 100 From Brock Collection at the Lib of VA **** ............................................................... 103 Ira Ayer, Special Agent for the Treasury ........................................................................ 105 Ashland and 1870 census ............................................................................................ 108 Moving North.................................................................................................................. 109 Ira and Jennie move to New Jersey and New York (1881) **** ............................... 109 “Keeping the Wolf From the Door”............................................................................ 110 ii Contents Jennie and Ira in New Jersey ...................................................................................... 113 Jennie and Ira move to Brooklyn ................................................................................ 116 Alice and George 1897 ............................................................................................... 118 Appendix ......................................................................................................................... 120 Martial Deeds of Pennsylvania ................................................................................... 120 The Battle of Gaines' Hill by: Amanda Theodocia Jones (1835-1914) ...................... 123 Ira’s Civil War BattlesBattles: .................................................................................... 127 Letter from Ira Ayer to Mr. L. Matthews.................................................................... 128 Murders and Outrages reported on by Ira Ayer .......................................................... 130 Article About Ira Ayer and the Tin-Plate Industry ..................................................... 133 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 134 Endnotes .......................................................................................................................... 135 iii Contents Table of Figures Figure 1 - Allegheny College: On the left is Bentley Hall (built around 1830) and the school's second building Ruter Hall (built in 1854). Both building still stand. (from 1870 drawing) .............................................................................................................................. 2 Figure 2 - Course of Study of Allegheny College Peparatory Department 1853-4 (from 1854 yearbook) ................................................................................................................... 3 Figure 3 - Allegheny Flag ................................................................................................. 10 Figure 4 - Ira's Sword ........................................................................................................ 11 Figure 5 - The Great Comet of 1861 by E. Weiß.............................................................. 14 Figure 6 - Washinton DC during the Civil war from Harpers Weekly 27 July 1861 ....... 16 Figure 7 - Typical camp in Washington, DC from Harpers Weekly 25 May 1861 .......... 16 Figure 8 - Third Brigade structure, Fall 1861 ................................................................... 17 Figure 9 - Troops on review form the Library of Congress .............................................. 18 Figure 10 - Diagram of the Battle of Draneville from Ord' report – Ira’s regiment is marked by the blue D ........................................................................................................ 20 Figure 11 - The Battle of Dranesville from Haprers Weekly 11 January 1862 ................ 22 Figure 12 - March from Washington to Fredericksburg (modified map from Library of Congress) .......................................................................................................................... 25 Figure 13 - Fifth Corps Peninsular Campaign 1862 ......................................................... 26 Figure 14 - The Peninsula Campaign (from PBS.org) ...................................................... 27 Figure 15 - Seven Days Battles map for 26-7 June – On 26 June Company I was where the name Seymour is (from Wikipedia) ............................................................................ 28 Figure 16 - Battle of Malvern Hill and subsequent retreat (from Wikipedia) .................. 32 Figure 17 - Second Battle of Bull Run - 5pm on 30 August – Ira was in Reynolds’ Division (from Wikipedia) ................................................................................................ 34 Figure 18 - Miner's Hill - Review of 17th New York Infantry (from Library of Congress) ..........................................................................................................................................