he 61st Regiment was originally recruited at Pittsburg, and organized at Camp
Copeland in August, 1861. Oliver H. Rippey, a native of Indiana, Pa. was commissioned
Colonel. Rippey had served as a private in the Mexican war, and as Lieutenant
Colonel of the 7th Regiment in the three months' service. Frank P. Robinson
was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel.
ue to the Union's pressing need for troops, the 61st was ordered to the field
with its ranks only partially filled. It proceeded to Washington, about six
hundred strong, in less than a month from the time that recruiting commenced.
It was first stationed at Camp Advance, south of the Potomac, and assisted in
building Fort Lyon. During the succeeding winter, since the original organizations
had never been recruited to full strength, it was consolidated into six companies.
Soon after taking the field, Lieutenant Colonel Robinson resigned.
n February, 1862, the 61st was ordered to report to General Buell, whose division
was encamped near Bladensburg. Here it was filled to maximum strength when four
companies under Major Spear were transferred from Colonel Birney's Regiment,
the Twenty-third. Major George C. Spear, of Philadelphia, was then commissioned
Lieutenant Colonel, and George F. Smith, of Chester county, Major. The service
here was comparatively light; drill and camp duties were regularly performed,
the discipline was good, and the officers spent two hours daily in the study
and discussion of tactics. The regiment was assigned to Graham's Brigade2.
n the 10th of March, the 61st, fully officered, armed, and equipped, the men
in excellent spirits and eager to meet the enemy, broke camp and marched towards
Manassas. But the foe, having abandoned his fortifications, and the regiment
returned to its old camp. Two weeks later it again broke camp and proceeded
by transport to Fortress Monroe, arriving on the 30th.
he regiment arrived near Yorktown, and encamped in the neighborhood of Warwick
Creek, on the left of the line of investment. Upon the evacuation of the town,
the pickets of the Sixty-first were the first to enter the deserted works in
their front. Pushing immediately forward, Couch's Division was ordered to Williamsburg.
After a weary march through deep mud and a drenching rain, it arrived upon the
battle-field on the evening of the 5th of May, but too late to have much part
in the action.
he advance up the Peninsula was soon after resumed, the only relief to its monotony
being an occasional reconnaissance. One was made to Bottom's Bridge, spanning
the Chickahominy. The first troops over, Companies A, under Captain Jacob Creps,
and H, under Captain Robert L. Orr, crossed to the right bank and in the direction
of White Oak Swamp; but failed to meet the enemy.
inally, on the evening of the 30th, the regiment reached Seven Pines, and was
immediately ordered two miles to the right, to Fair Oaks Station. Skirmishers
were thrown out, who soon found the enemy, and companies G, Captain Crosby,
and H, Captain Orr, were established upon the picket line. On the morning of
May 31st the rain poured down in torrents until about half past nine. When it
ceased, the enemy attacked. The battle raged fiercely for nearly two hours on
the left of the advance line. Finally, out-flanked and out-numbered, it gave
way, and the enemy struck Couch's Division which was holding the second line.
fter the battle, General Abercrombie wrote, "No field officer of the Sixty-first
Pennsylvania is left to make out the report of that regiment. At twelve o'clock
PM, I received notice to warn the men to fall in at a moment's notice. * * *
The position of the Thirty-first (Eighty-second) Pennsylvania, Colonel Williams,
was near the railroad, upon the road leading from the station to Richmond; that
of the Sixty-first, Colonel Rippey, near the railroad leading from the depot
to the Chickahominy. The duty assigned to these two regiments was to guard the
crossing at the depot. I received orders at one o'clock to take position with
the First Chasseurs, the Thirty-first, (Eighty-second,) and the Sixty-first
Pennsylvania, and Brady's Battery of the First Pennsylvania Artillery, near
the camp of the Thirty-first, to prevent the enemy from turning our right flank.
Shortly afterwards the Sixty-first was placed in position near the Twenty-third,
then already engaged. * * * The dead of the enemy on the portion of the battle-field
occupied by the First Long Island, the Twenty-third and Sixty-first Pennsylvania,
are the proofs I have of the gallantry displayed by these regiments. The Sixty-first
Pennsylvania mourn the loss of all their field officers, the Colonel killed,
the Lieutenant Colonel and Major wounded and missing."
eneral Keyes wrote in his official report, "At a little past two o'clock, I
ordered Neill's Twenty-third, and Rippey's Sixty-first Pennsylvania regiments
to move to the support of Casey's right. Neill attacked the enemy twice with
great gallantry. In the first attack the enemy were driven back. In the second
attack, and under the immediate command of General Couch, these two regiments
assailed a vastly superior force of the enemy, and fought with extraordinary
bravery; though compelled at last to retire, they brought in thirty-five prisoners.
Both regiments were badly cut up, Colonel Rippey of the Sixty-first and his
Adjutant were killed; the Lieutenant Colonel and Major were wounded and are
missing. The casualties in the Sixty-first amount two hundred and sixty-three,
and are heavier than in any other regiment in Couch's Division. * * * The Sixty-
first withdrew in detachments, some of which came again into action near my
headquarters."
he loss fell heavily upon the 61st. Eleven officers and two hundred and sixty-nine
enlisted men were either killed, wounded, or missing. Colonel Rippey, Captain
Gerard, and Lieutenants Moylan, Scott, Pollock, and Rhodes were among the killed,
and Lieutenant Colonel Spear and Major Smith were wounded and taken prisoners.
ithout a field officer, the remnant of the regiment, in command of Captain Robert
L. Orr, fought in the second position until it was too dark to see the enemy.
On the following day, the fighting was resumed by Sumner's Corps and the ground
which had been lost was regained. The regiment remained in camp, near the old
battle ground, and engaged in picket duty and occasional skirmishes, until the
night of June 28th. On that evening it was ordered to the extreme right of the
line, which had been attacked and beaten back to the Chickahominy. But the 61st
arrived too late to be of much avail.
t three o'clock A.M., on June 29th, it was ordered to start on the retreat from
the Chickahominy to the James, the division having been assigned the special
duty of opening and holding the roads leading to Charles City. This was accomplished
after much fatigue, but with little loss. The pickets of the regiment were attacked
at Charles City Cross Roads, by a force of cavalry. But the enemy unit had seen
no previous field service, and was quickly put to flight. Resuming the march,
the 61st reached the James River on the morning of the 30th of June.
fter two hours rest, it again moved inland, and participated in the action at
Turkey Bend, just prior to the battle of Malvern Hill. The loss in the regiment
here was slight. On the morning of July Ist, in the final struggle of the campaign,
it was hotly engaged. Because it was in a sheltered position, the loss was comparatively
small, only two officers and thirty-two men. Captain Dawson and Lieutenant Rhodes
were among the wounded.
he 61st began marching at one P.M. on July 2nd, in the midst of a driving rain,
and reached Harrison's Landing on the following morning in a state of complete
exhaustion. In the afternoon a ration of whiskey was issued--a ration which
will doubtless be long remembered by the men, who, from prostration, were in
need of stimulants. On the morning of July 4th the army began to assume an organized
form. The 61st was moved into position near the James River facing Malvern Hill,
and ordered to build breast-works. They soon had the wilderness cleared, and
in twenty-four hours a substantial work, of sufficient strength to withstand
the action of artillery, was completed.
ith the exception of a reconnaissance to the old battle ground at Malvern Hill,
the regiment remained in camp at this place until the 16th of August, when they
received orders to march, which were well understood to mean evacuate. The heavy
material and the knapsacks of the men had previously been shipped by transports.
Without regret the regiment left the scene of this severe but unfortunate campaign,
and proceeded through Charles City and Williamsburg to Yorktown. The division
was here for some time engaged in levelling the old besieging works of the previous
April.
umors of Lee's northward march were now rife, and soon the division was ordered
to move by transports to Alexandria where, upon its arrival, it received orders
from General McClelland "to debark immediately and march to Centreville, where
further orders would be given." At daylight on September 2nd, the regiment marched
to Chantilly, where the enemy under Jackson was reported to be in force. They
arrived on the field too late to be engaged. Here, for the first time, they
learned of the defeat of the Union Army at Bull Run, and of the death of General
Kearney and Stevens in the battle of the previous evening. A retrograde movement
was immediately commenced, and the division, acting as rear guard to a part
of the army, was formed for battle three times in as many miles. The sole purpose
of the enemy seemed to be to delay, and not to engage the column.
rossing the Chain Bridge the regiment moved on to the Maryland campaign, and
was posted along the line of the Potomac for picket duty. Here it remained until
the morning of the 17th. In the evening it joined the division, on the battle-field
of Antietam. Skirmishing began at once and continued at intervals until the
20th, resulting in some loss. It then received orders to march with the division
to Williamsport, where the enemy's cavalry was met and quickly put to flight.
n the 23d the regiment went into camp at Downsville, where it remained, with
the exception of a short interval, in which it made an expedition up the Potomac
to Hancock, until the 31st of October. In the meantime the Sixty-first, with
the division, was assigned to the Sixth Corps, to which it remained attached
until the close of its term of service, and during the period in which that
corps won' a reputation for valor unsurpassed by any in the army. Crossing the
Potomac with the corps, it moved down the valley of Virginia to the neighborhood
of Warrenton, remaining in the vicinity until the opening of the Fredericksburg
campaign under Burnside. It was in the left Grand Division under Franklin, in
that ill-starred battle; but fortunately was only lightly engaged and suffered
little loss. Upon the abandonment of the struggle it returned to camp on the
left bank of the Rappahannock, where it remained, with the exception of a short
interval while out upon the "Mud March," until the re-organization of the army
under General Hooker.
n the 3d of February, 1863, the Sixty-first was chosen, together with four other
regiments, the Thirty-first and Forty-third New York, Sixth Maine, Fifth Wisconsin,
and Harn's Light Battery, Third New York, to form the Light Division of the
Sixth Corps, organized for special service, and designed to act in emergencies
with great celerity. It was posted at Belle Plain until April 28th, when it
broke camp and marched to the Rappahannock, near Fredericksburg; the duty being
assigned to the Sixth Corps of making a co-operative movement upon the rebel
strongholds above the city, while Hooker, with the main body of the army, was
moving upon Chancellorsville. A successful lodgment was formed on the south
side of the stream, and the corps, under command of General Sedgewick, passed
over. Preparations were made for carrying Marye's Heights by storm. At eleven
o'clock on the morning of May 3d, the troops moved to the assault, the Light
Division in advance, the Sixty-first leading the right column. The ground was
open, over which it must advance to reach the enemy's entrenched position, and
was raked by his guns; but without faltering, it moved forward, and, though
men were swept from the ranks at every step, his strong works were carried and
possessed. Colonel Spear, while bravely leading in the assault, was killed.
The loss in killed and wounded in this brief struggle was three officers and
seventy-four men.
ushing forward in pursuit of the flying enemy, he was encountered in heavy force
at Salem Heights, and a short but bloody struggle ensued. Overborne by weight
of numbers, who had turned back from Hooker's front, the corps was forced to
retire, and re-crossed the river at Banks' Ford. The Light Division, which had
performed signal service in this campaign, and had been greatly crippled in
the desperate fighting in which it had been engaged, was now broken up, and
the regiments composing it were distributed among other organizations. The Sixty-first
was assigned to the Third Brigade, Brigadier General Thomas H. Neill, Second
Division, General Howe, Sixth Corps. Upon the fall of Colonel Spear, the command
devolved on Major Dawson, in the absence of Lieutenant Colonel Smith, on account
of sickness. The latter was subsequently promoted to Colonel to date from May
4th; Major Dawson was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and Captain John W. Crosby,
of company G, to Major.
arly in June it was discovered that the enemy's columns were in motion, but
his plans were as yet undeveloped. On the 5th and 6th the regiment participated
in a reconnaissance across the Rappahannock, to discover the significance of
this activity. The usual routine of camp and picket duty, with occasional skirmishes,
continued until the 13th of June, when it broke camp and moved with the corps
towards Pennsylvania, Lee having faced his columns in that direction, and being
now on the march. After a series of exhausting marches, for the most part performed
beneath a burning sun, it reached Manchester, Maryland, on the 1st of July,
where, at evening, tidings were received of the opening of the battle of Gettysburg,
and orders to move with all possible dispatch to the field. The corps was immediately
put in motion. After a wearisome march of upwards of thirty miles, it arrived
in the midst of the desperate fighting of the second day, and the tired and
footsore troops were hurried into action. The corps was broken, and detachments
distributed to parts of the field, where lines were most sorely pressed, Neill's
Brigade being sent to the Twelth Corps, and posted on the right of the line.
The Sixty-first was but slightly engaged, principally in skirmishing, and sustained
only slight losses. After the battle the brigade was ordered to pursue one of
Lee's columns, which was retreating through Fairfield Gap, and to push and harass
its rear. This duty was performed with vigor until it reached Waynesboro, where
the troops, completely exhausted by the previous five day's marching and fighting,
went into camp and suffered to rest for twenty-four hours. Following up the
enemy's retiring columns, he was at length found entrenched upon the banks of
the Potomac, and in a position so favorable for defense that it was deemed imprudent
to attack.
e-crossing the Potomac with the army, it moved forward until it reached a permanent
camp, about the middle of July, at White Sulphur Springs. After being engaged
in the usual camp and picket duty here for a month, the regiment moved on the
16th of September to Culpepper, and thence on the 5th of October to the Rapidan,
the division was ordered to move rapidly northward, commencing the march in
the midst of a furious storm, and without a halt making twenty-nine miles in
fifteen hours. At Rappahannock Station, the troops were drawn up in line in
expectation of an attack; but the enemy declining battle, the columns again
moved on towards Washington. The regiment reached the neighborhood of Fairfax
Court House on the 15th of October, whence after a few days rest, it again marched
through Gainesville, New Baltimore, to Warrenton, where it went into camp. On
the 7th of November it participated in the brilliant action at Rappahannock
Station, but suffered little loss. Crossing the river soon after, it proceeded
to Brandy Station, where winter quarters were established. Here the strength
of the regiment was considerably increased by the return of the men from hospitals,
and the assignment of new recruits. On the 16th of April, 1964, Lieutenant Colonel
Dawson was honorably discharged, and Major Crosby was promoted to succeed him,
Captain Robert L. Orr, of company H, being subsequently commissioned Major.
n the night of the 4th of May, the regiment, five hundred strong, crossed the
Rapidan, and at noon of the 5th met and engaged the enemy in the dense thickets
and underwood of the Wilderness. In the face of a hot fire of musketry, it advanced,
driving him back for half a mile. At dusk the enemy attacked in heavy force,
with the design of turning the right of the line, and struggled hard to push
the regiment from its position, but failed of his purpose, and was successfully
repulsed. The loss in this day in the Wilderness was twelve killed and thirty
wounded. Lieutenant Colonel Crosby was of the latter.
t daybreak on the morning of the 6th, the battle was renewed and the regiment
was hotly engaged, suffering severely, Captain Robinson, Lieutenant Brown and
fifteen enlisted men being killed, and Lieutenants Dawson, Hager, Stewart and
Koener, and forty men wounded. Late at night the enemy again attacked with considerable
show of strength, but was easily repulsed with slight loss to the regiment.
During the following day the men were engaged in digging rifle pits and at night
marched by the left towards Spottsylvania. On the night of the 8th, whilst advancing
through a wood to gain its position in the new line, company A, Lieutenant Price,
and company I, Captain Greene, holding the right of the regiment, encountered
a body of the enemy, who were attempting, under cover of darkness, to gain its
rear by a gap which had been left between it, and the troops upon its right,
and a hand to hand engagement ensued, in which the enemy was repulsed, losing
two officers and six men captured with several killed and wounded. The loss
in the regiment was one killed several wounded, and Lieutenant Caldwell captured.
The latter was re-captured at Beaver Dam Station, by the cavalry under Sheridan,
and soon after returned to his command. During the following day the men hugged
closely their rifle-pits under a heavy artillery fire. Five enlisted men of
company D were killed, and one wounded, by the explosion of a single shell.
On the 10th the regiment to the front, and from eleven A.M. until six P.M. was
engaged in skirmishing, when, with the First and Second Brigades, it charged
upon the enemy's works, capturing a battery and a line of rifle-pits; but supports
failing to come up in time, it was obliged to retire, losing the advantage gained.
The loss in the Sixty-first was eight killed, wounded and missing. Lieutenant
Lippincott was among the wounded. Remaining in rifle-pits until the morning
of the 12th, the regiment, with the exception of three companies, which had
been sent out upon the picket line, moved to the left, near Spottsylvania, to
the position captured from the enemy at early dawn, by the Second Corps. During
the day he made repeated assaults to recover his lost works, pressing with desperate
valor to possess the part known as "the angle," but was handsomely repulsed
in all his efforts. In repelling a single one of these assaults, the Sixty-first
lost ninety in killed and wounded, and during the entire day one hundred and
forty. Colonel Smith, Captains Taylor and Donnelly, and Lieutenants Clausen,
Dean, Parsons and Ryan were numbered among the wounded. Until the night of the
17th, the regiment was constantly employed in digging rifle-pits and moving
gradually to the left, when it was ordered to March back to the position fought
over on the 12th, and at daylight of the following day, charged across the very
ground which had then been so stubbornly contested, moving under a heavy artillery
fire. Meeting with little success here, the regiment was ordered to the extreme
left of the army, where for several days it was engaged in picketing and throwing
up rifle-pits. In the successive movements of the army by the left, carrying
it across the North Anna, the Pamumkey and the Chickahominy, the regiment actively
participated, being uninterruptedly employed in digging, picketing, marching,
and skirmishing, and almost daily sustaining some loss. From the crossing of
the Rapidan on the 4th of May, when the Wilderness campaign opened, until the
regiment halted near Fort Powhatan on the James, where it closed, the loss in
killed, wounded, and missing was about thirty officers, and four hundred enlisted
men.
n the 16th of June, the regiment crossed the James, and marched to the neighborhood
of Petersburg, where it was immediately employed in the operations of the army
for carrying the defences of the city by assault. These failing, the slow operations
of the siege were commenced, and the regular fatigue and picket duty succeeded.
On the 29th the brigade marched to Ream's Station, on the Weldon Railroad, to
open a line of retreat for the Cavalry Divisions under command of Generals Wilson
and Kautz, who , having made a raid on the South Side Railroad, in attempting
to regain the Union lines, were intercepted by a heavy force of the enemy. On
the following day, the cavalry having escaped by making a detour the regiment
returned to its former position and was engaged in destroying the railroad,
picketing, and constructing earthworks.
n the 9th of July, the regiment broke camp at the front, and marched to City
Point, whence it proceeded, by transports, to Washington, the Sixth Corps now
under the command of General Wright, having been ordered to the defence of the
capital, menaced by the enemy. Arriving at three o'clock P.M. of the 11th, it
marched through the city, encamping near Fort Massachusetts, and on the following
day, met the enemy in front of Fort Stevens, where a sharp and sanguinary battle
was fought, resulting in his complete discomfiture and rout. Lieutenant and
acting Adjutant Laughlin, and six men were killed, and Lieutenant Colonel Crosby
and twenty-five men wounded. The loss fell heavily upon the brigade, every regimental
officer being either killed or severely wounded. The pursuit was immediately
commenced, the line of march leading through Poolesville and across the Potomac
at Conrad's Ferry, through Leesburg and Snicker's Gap to the Shenandoah River.
On the 20th it crossed and continued the pursuit, but failing to overtake the
enemy, Wright fell back to Washington, and the regiment encamped near Fort Gaines.
The enemy traced its steps and from this period until the 18th of August, the
regiment was kept constantly engaged marching and countermarching through Maryland
and the Shenandoah Valley, when it finally encamped near Charlestown. Three
days later the brigade, together with the Second Brigade, was attacked by Rhode's
Division of Ewell's Corps, and in the engagement which ensued the force was
obliged to yield, the Sixty-first losing Captain Redenback and six men killed,
Lieutenant Price mortally, and Captain Glenn, Lieutenant Caldwell and fifteen
men wounded. On the night of the 22d the regiment moved back to Halltown, and
a week later took up its old position near Charlestown.
n the 3d of September, the original term of service of the regiment having expired,
leaving the veterans and new recruits in camp at Berryville, the men whose term
was now completed under command of Colonel Smith, proceeded to Philadelphia
where they were mustered out of service. In compliance with an order issued
from the headquarters of the army, the men remaining in the field were consolidated
into five companies, known as the Battalion of the Sixty-first Regiment, and
placed under command of the senior captain, Charles S. Greene, Major Orr being
on staff duty. On the 27th Colonel Smith was re-appointed and returned to service.
t two o'clock A.M. of the 19th of September, the army of the Shenandoah, now
under the command of General Sheridan, moved in the direction of Winchester,
with the purpose of giving battle, and at daylight met the enemy at the Berryville
Crossing of the Opequan. The contest was maintained until midday with 'Unabated
fury, when Sheridan, who having his men well in hand, and inspired with his
own fiery zeal, ordered a general advance, and the enemy was swept from the
field. In this engagement, known as the battle of Opequan, or Sheridan's battle
of Winchester, the battalion suffered severely. It went into the fight with
three officers and one hundred and twenty-five men, and of this number lost
twenty-two killed and wounded. Among the latter was Captain Greene, who received
a shot in the right eye causing also a fracture of the jaw.
he battalion joined in the pursuit of the fleeing enemy, and on the 22d, the
division to which it belonged, now under command of General Getty, carried the
famous position at Fisher's Hill, the Sixty-first sustaining considerable loss
in the assault. The pursuit was continued to Mount Crawford, which was reached
on the 29th. After various movements up and down the valley, which continued
until the 14th of October, the division finally encamped at Cedar Creek, and
here, before light on the morning of the 19th, General Early, who had brought
his army into position under cover of darkness, and a dense fog which completely
masked his movements, suddenly attacked the Union troops upon either flank,
at a moment when they were reposing unsuspicious of danger, and their leader
"twenty miles away". In the tumultuous action which ensued, in which the army
was driven, and in its turn routed and almost annihilated its adversary, the
battalion, now numbering but about one hundred, lost in killed the only two
remaining officers, Captains D.J. Taylor and John Barrett, and fourteen men
killed and wounded. For its gallantry in this engagement, it was highly complimented
by the commanding general. After the battle, the division to which it was attached,
was pushed forward considerably in advance of the main body, and was posted
near the town of Strasburg. While here, one hundred and eighty drafted men were
assigned to the command, who were organized into two new companies, raising
the number to seven, and officered by the veteran sergeants. Many of the wounded
returned to the ranks, bringing its effective strength to about three hundred
and fifty men. Remaining in camp at this point until the 8th of November, it
moved down the valley to the neighborhood of Kernstown, where it encamped and
continued until the 3d of December. In pursuance of orders, it broke camp on
that day, and proceeded to re-join its old companions of the army of the Potomac,
in front of Petersburg, and was assigned a place in the besieging lines on the
Squirrel Level Road, which it continued to hold during the remainder of the
siege.
n the 2d of March, 1865, two new companies, fully armed, equipped, and officered
were sent to the battalion from Harrisburg, increasing the number to nine, and
restoring it again to the proportions of a regiment. In the January preceding,
a beautiful flag had been presented to the battalion by citizens of Philadelphia3
.
n the morning of the 25th of March, the enemy under General Gordon made a sudden
attack upon, and succeeded in breaking through the lines of the Ninth Corps.
General Grant immediately ordered an advance along the entire lines, and the
Second Division of the Sixth Corps, to which the Sixty-first belonged, attacked
and carried the outer lines of the enemy's fortifications in its front. The
loss in this assault was eighteen killed and wounded. On the night of April
1st, the regiment was ordered to be in readiness to again assault at daylight.
At four o'clock, the word was given, and the Sixty-first in the front brigade,
moved with intrepidity against the frowning works, which for many months it
had faced, and vainly sought to carry. The struggle was short but severe, and
the enemy was driven in confusion from his entrenchments. Pursuit was immediately
given, and the regiment during the day captured two rebel colors, a wagon train,
fifty-two men, sixteen horses, and three brass twelve-pounders with caissons.
Colonel Crosby, who had lost an arm from the effects of the wound received at
Fort Stevens, near Washington, was killed, and Lieutenant Colonel Orr wounded.
On the morning of the 3d, it moved with the army in pursuit of Lee, whose rear
guard, Longstreet's Corps, was brought to bay at Sailor's Creek, where the Sixty-first
fired its last shot at the enemy, who surrendered three days thereafter, April
9th, at Appomattox Court House.
fter the surrender the regiment returned with a considerable portion of the
army to Burkesville Junction, where, on the 17th, it was honored by being chosen
to escort the captured flags of the division to army headquarters. General Johnston,
in command of a rebel army in North Carolina, still held out. Grant accordingly
put his columns in motion to assure its capture should it continue in hostile
attitude. In four days the regiment marched one hundred and sixteen miles, reaching
Danville on the 27th, where it was detailed for provost duty. After remaining
here until the 21st of May, Johnston having in the meantime laid down his arms
and surrendered to Sherman, it moved by rail to Richmond. Marching through the
rebel capital on the 24th, it crossed the Pamunkey on the 25th, passed Fredericksburg
and Marye's Heights on the 29th, Fairfax June 1st, arriving at Ball's Cross
Roads, near Washington, on the 2d. On the 8th the corps was reviewed in the
National Capital, which for four years had been menaced, and which, by its opportune
arrival, it had preserved in its direst extremity. On the 28th of June the regiment
under command of the following field officers: Colonel Robert L. Orr, Lieutenant
Colonel Charles E. Greene, and Major Oliver A. Parsons, was mustered out of
service, and ordered to Pittsburg for payment. Upon its arrival there it was
publicly received by the Mayor and citizens, and entertained at a grand banquet.
Two days thereafter the organization which had been maintained for four years,
at length "its warfare o'er," ceased to exist.
1Liberally taken from "History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers" by Samual Bates, 1869;
2Organization of the First Brigade, Brigadier General L. P. Graham, First Division, Brigadier General Don Carlos Buell, Fourth Corps, Major General E. D. Keyes. Sixty-fifth Regiment New York Volunteers, (First Chasseurs,) Colonel John Cochrane; Twenty-third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Colonel David B. Birney; Sixty-seventh Regiment New York Volunteers, (First Long Island,) Colonel Julius W. Adams; Eighty-second Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Colonel David H. Williams; Sixty-first Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Colonel Oliver H. Rippey.
3 The regiment received its first colors, an offering from citizens
of Pittsburg, before proceeding to the field in 1861. At the battle of Fair
Oaks, May 31, 1862, this flag was torn to shreds by the enemy's fire, and was
sent, with the body of Colonel Rippey to Pittsburg, his former home. The second
flag was presented on behalf of the State, and was carried in all the rough
service of the regiment until September, 1864, when having become much torn
and mutilated, it was sent to Harrisburg, and immediately received from the
Governor, a new one to supply its place. This, together with the one presented
to the battalion as noted above, was carried until the close of the war. A contemporary
newspaper, notices the latter as follows: "A number of citizens have had manufactured
a magnificent flag for presentation to the new battalion. It is made of heavy
silk; one side contains an elaborate painting of the coat of arms of Pennsylvania,
and the reverse a beautiful representation of an American Eagle. The flag contains
the following inscription, "Presented by the citizens of Philadelphia to the
Sixty-first regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers for gallant conduct throughout
the war." The names of the principal battles in which the regiment took an active
part, are inscribed on the flag. Among which are Marye's Heights, Fair Oaks,
Washington,D.C., Malvern Hill, Winchester, Antietem, Cedar Creek, and Wilderness.
This flag is safe from dishonor in the hands of the Sixty-first.
Flag of the 61st Pennsylvania
(See NOTES on flag below)
Some of the lettering on the flag is hard to make out. All lines are listed here: