Union and West End Cemetery

Sinkhole Part 2 - December 30, 2011

2012-01-16T17:20:00.002-05:00

Sinkhole 10th and Gordon, Allentown, PA. December 30 after City of Allentown Public Works department began excavating the street over the sinkhole.

Sinkhole Photos 12-29-2011

2012-01-02T18:21:00.007-05:00

The photos that follow were taken on Thursday, December 29, 2011 before any excavation began. As you will see, the initial indication would lead one to believe that it was not a serious problem. Little did we know.

Union and West End Cemetery - Sinkhole on 10th Street

2012-01-01T13:34:00.007-05:00

A sinkhole developed on Tenth Street on the morning of Thursday, December 29th. Either a sinkhole developed and caused a water main to break or the water main broke and caused the damage to adjoining homes and the cemetery. Either way, the water from the water main caused the resulting damage.

Some of the water from the broken water main seeped into the Union and West End Cemetery and undermined a number of grave sites. The exact number is not known. The Allentown Fire Department personnel roped off a section that includes 54 grave sites. This would, barring unmarked graves not included in the count, be the outside estimate of graves that might be affected. The actual number of graves that were undermined may be lower. The lot numbers involved start with Lot Number 1075 and end at lot number 1122. However not all lot numbers from the beginning to the end of this series are inclusive in the affected area.

If you have relatives that you think might be included in the affected area, please feel free to contact Everette Carr, President of the Union and West End cemetery Association at 484-951-1568, for additional information.

In the near future, photos will be posted showing the extensive damage to Tenth Street and the cemetery.

Once the City of Allentown shut off the water supply, the damage in the cemetery did not worsen. This is not to suggest that there is not a problem. There is a serious problem in that graves have been undermined and the ground in this small section is not stable. Action will have to taken very soon to insure that no further damage is incurred.

Rest assured that while the Lehigh Coroner has the authority to exhume graves, this action has not been deemed necessary at the present time.

The cemetery officers and directors will keep all interested parties informed as the situation plays out.

We are looking forward to a time when everything is back to normal. However, in the meantime, the cemetery gates have been closed and locked and no admittance will be allowed until further notice.

United Way Day of Caring

2011-11-15T17:12:00.016-05:00

On September 27, 2011 six individuals representing kgb division of Lucent Technologies volunteered to assist the directors of the Union and West Cemetery as part of the United Way Day of Caring Program.

In attendance were Kelly, Lisa, Jennifer, Julie, Jane and Wayne. We began at 9 a.m. and worked until about 12:30 that afternoon. The task; clear all mulberry bushes growing around tombstones in three sections, totalling an area of almost 4 acres.

Here are some photos of the group at work:

The last picture is of Jerry Haas and Everette Carr; directors of the cemetery association. Not pictured but helping that day were Don and Janet Hagenauer, also directors.

The kbg group did a tremendous job, worked hard and earned their keep. The group donated 21 hours valued at $448.56. The Union and West End Cemetery Association truly appreciates the efforts of the employees of kbg and thank them for volunteering their services.

Thanks also to the United Way and the Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley for making this day possible each year.

And so it goes...

Scag Tiger Cub Zero Turn Commercial Mower

2011-11-12T17:30:00.004-05:00

On Friday, Veterans Day, November 11, 2011, three veterans traveled to Wind Gap and finalized the purchase of a used 2007 Scag Tiger Cub, zero turn commercial lawn mower. Below are a few pictures of the effort:

It was touch and go for awhile with the seller, but we managed to snag the Scag at the $4,000.00 original asking price and the amount approved by the Cemetery Board. This is a very welcomed addition to our current fleet of mowers.

It was a very success day!

5th Grade Cleveland Elementary Students in Cemetery

2010-11-01T17:50:00.000-04:00

On a brisk fall day, Friday, October 15, 2010, the 5th grade students from Cleveland Elementary School in Allentown, Pa. were in the Union and West End Cemetery on a class assignment. Their were approximately 60 students participating. The lesson plan dealt with the Revolutionary War (1775-1782). The students broke into 5 groups and using compasses and tape measures they located the graves of the five Revolutionary War veterans that are buried in the 156 year old cemetery.

Upon arriving at each grave site, each group read a letter written by the Revolutionary soldier in which he described what it was like to live during the war for independence and how proud they all were to be Americans..

Additionally the students gathered for a demonstration of the preparation and cooking of apple crisp using two dutch ovens, much as would be the case in revolutionary times. Each group enjoyed sampling the apple crisp, cookies and apple cider before moving on to their next assignment.

The British are Coming! The British are Coming!

Summary Of Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary war started in the year 1775 and it was set off by a British army trying to seize ammunition in Concord of Massachusetts. In 1776, General George Washington crossed the Delaware River to reach New Jersey and there he defeated the British Garrisons in Trenton and Princeton.

During the Princeton attack, several people fled to the Princeton University and started hiding there. However, this was the first formal assault and it set off a series of events that followed one after the other. The British mainly controlled the areas in New York and Philadelphia. The rest of the land was under the control of colonists.

In 1778, United States of America and France signed a pact of trade and commerce and this allowed them to depend on France as an ally. On behalf of America, France declared a war on Great Britain under the leadership of Louis XVI.

That signaled for caution on the British part and after a war between them, Great Britain Slowly started pulling their troops away from America. The House of Commons in Great Britain voted to end the war in 1782 after 4 years of starting the war. The British pulled the remaining troops from South Carolina and Georgia in 1782 finally marking the end of the American Revolutionary War.

In 1782, Britain also signed a declaration in Paris that it would cease to combat North America. This ended the war officially and the treaty between America and Great Britain was signed amicably.

Revolutionary War Veterans buried in the Union and West End Cemetery

UN0761.01 Deshler, Charles 10 Sep 1754 1 Feb 1841

UN0483.06 Helfrich, Michael Apr 1760 19 Oct 1841

UN0411.10 Huber, C. Conrad 1750 23 Aug 1842

UN0087.01 Keiper, John 18 Oct 1751 4 July 1833

UN0266.06 Weiser, Martin 1764 8 Dec 1849

Eagle Scout Project

2010-10-31T20:41:00.000-04:00

On two consecutive Saturdays (Sept 18 & 25), Daniel Hower, an Eagle Scout prospect, with the help of family, friends, and other Scouts, undertook to place six Civil War plaques on the graves of six "First Defender" veterans that are buried in the Union and West End Cemetery.

There are 715 Civil War veterans buried in the Union and West End Cemetery. Twenty Two of those veterans were from the Allen Infantry Militia Unit of Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Allen Infantry was among the first Militia Units to answer President Lincoln's call when it appeared that the Confederate troops were about to take Washington. Some 530 men from five Pennsylvania militia units answered that call and saved the capitol. They have since been known as "First Defenders" and received special commendation from the Pennsylvania Congress and special "First Defender" medals..

The original Scout Project was to place a bronze plaque on the grave of any First Defenders that did not already have a plaque. This would have called for sixteen
plaques which are provided by the Veterans Affairs office in Virginia. However, one of the Veterans Affairs Office rules reduced that number to six plaques. The Veterans Affairs Office will not supply a plaque if the grave is already adorned with a headstone. Thus, the only ones that qualify are those with no existing or legible marker. So Daniel proceeded to place six plaques on the graves of six veterans of the Civil War.

The above photos depict the placement of just two of the six plaques placed at the graves of Union soldiers. All six were placed on six veterans graves as follows:

William W. Wagner
3rd Sgt. Co. G' 25th Infantry
Civil War

Joseph P. S. Weiss
Pvt. Co. G' 25th Infantry
Civil War

Henry Storch
Pvt. Co. G' 25th PA Infantry
Civil War
Dec 22, 1841 Feb 2, 1866

William Rhue
Pvt. Co. G' 25th PA Infantry
Civil War
Aug 10, 1810 Feb 4, 1900

James M. Wilson
Lieut. Co. G' 25thPA Vols
First Defenders
Civil War
Aug 17, 1816 Oct 16, 1875

George W. Henry
Pvt. Co. G' 25th PA Infantry
Civil War

This project should have had a happy ending; but, according to Scout rules, an Eagle Scout project must be approved by the District Council, commenced and completed prior to the Scouts eighteenth birthday. Some six weeks or more prior to his birthday, Daniel set up an appointment with a District Counselor to present his application and an outline of his project. The counselor cancelled the meeting. Several weeks later a new meeting took place; the counselor asked one question: "When is your birthday?" When told, the counselor refused to look at the project application and stated that there was not sufficient time to complete the project and dismissed Daniel's dream of being an Eagle Scout out of hand.

To his credit, Daniel proceeded to complete the project. The plaques were on hand in plenty of time. It took only two days to gather the necessary materials and only two Saturday mornings to complete the project.Was it finished before Daniel's eighteenth birthday; no, but only because there was no longer any urgency. The District Council had already seen to that. You would think that the Boy Scout District Council would be encouraging to live-long Scouts to complete the requirements for the Eagle Scout rank. But in this instance, a worthy individual was denied a once in a life-time opportunity to attain that exalted rank.

I am confident that in Daniel's mind and heart he is an Eagle Scout. I know that his family believes that he did everything required of him. Other might have simply walked away after failing to realize their dream, but Daniel sucked it up and completed the project for which the Union and West End Cemetery Association is grateful. Daniel, you are first class in our hearts and minds.

Everette Carr
President
Union and west End Cemetery

Courage Under Fire

2010-06-17T14:40:00.004-04:00

The Untold Story of Allentown's First Fireman

Allentown Fire men's Memorial Program

Presentation by Boy Scout Troop 99, Cleveland Elementary School

On May 27, 2010, at 10:00 A.M., the Allentown Fire Department and the Cleveland Elementary School joined together to present a special program in the Union and West End Cemetery at 10th and Chew Streets. The program was free to the public.

The earliest beginnings of fire fighting in Allentown are shrouded in mystery. But one thing is clear; the Allentown Fire Department, formed in 1870, owes its creation to a disaster, the Great Fire of Ascension Day (June 1, 1848), and it is one of history's ironies that the man who might have caused the fire later became the Fire Department's Fire Chief! That and other mysteries were researched by Cleveland Elementary School Fifth Grade Students (and Scout Troop 99), D.J. Beller, Daniel Coalt, Johnny Czonska, Sam Gordillo, Ethan Sistrunk, and Emmanuel Torruellas, under the supervision of Teacher Evelyn Costelloe in the Spring of 2010, with the assistance of Barbara Miller and the Union and West End Cemetery Association.

Engine 4, Central Station, Allentown Fire Department

Boy Scout Troop 99 Color Guard

Troop 99 Color Guard
Troop 99 Flag, Nelson Velez; Pack 99 Flag, James Eggleston;
American Flag, Lance Pearyer-Benton

Allentown Firemen Buried in the Union and West End Cemetery

Fire Chiefs

Simon P. Snyder, First Fire Chief (1867-1872), Union Lot 396
Werner K. Ruhe, Second Fire Chief (1875-1878, Union Lot 63
Jacob S. Reninger, Third Fire Chief (1875-1878 Union Lot 562
John P. Dillenger, Fourth Fire Chief (1878-1887), Union Lot 1079
George J. Kline, Seventh Fire Chief (1890-1893), West End Lot 501
Charles H. Cohn, Eighth-Eleventh-Fourteenth Fire Chief (1893-1896, 1902-1905,
1910-11), West End Lot 249
Charles D. Grim, Ninth Fire Chief (1896-1899), Union 558

Assistant Fire chiefs

Harry M.R. Poe, West End Lot 63

Fireman

Peter J. Beisel, West End Lot 59
Calvin Boyce Roth, Union Lot 170
Edwin T. Carl, Union Lot 247
Harry W. Butz, Union Lot 70
Henry Focht, Union Lot 457
David Frederick, West End Sec "M" Killed at Grossman/Kluentor Furniture
Factory Fire, 6 February 1884
Henry Knauss, Union Lot 773
William Kranzley, Union Lot 1163
Henry H. Mertz, Union Lot 78
Charles Mickley, Union Lot 471
John R. Schall, Union Lot 1080, Died of Heart Attack after Rialto Fire
Edwar H. Simmons, West End Lot 201
Abraham Steinberger, Union Lot 426

John Czonska - Samuel Gordillo - Barbara Miller

The Fire of 1848

by
Johhny Czonaka and Sam Gordillo

Hi, we are the Scouts from Cleveland Elementary School. We are here to tell you about the fire that burnt down 75% of Allentown.

It all started Easter Day 1848, not far from where you are now, between Linden and Hamilton Street on Hall Alley. Now its a parking lot but back then it was a tobacco stable.

We think the fire started because employees did not get the day off for Easter. Once the fire started , it spread like wildfire. There was a water shortage, high winds and no organized fire fighters. The city was doomed.

Luckily no one died. However, fire fighters was destined to change!

Mysterious Beginning: The Great Fire of Ascension Day, 1848

Allentown's Great Fire of 1848 began with a single spark, at about 4 o'clock on Ascension Day (Thursday, June1), 1848. It started in John Eckert's tobacco stable on Hall Alley (now Hall Street), where two apprentices were processing tobacco. In minutes, the stable was engulfed in flames. Northwest winds whipped the flames into a whirlwind. In 1.5 hours, much of the village of Allentown - 35 houses, stores, 42 farms and and stables, other businesses - burned to the ground. The village had a population of only 3,700 people and only a total of 610 buildings.

There was no Allentown Fire Department to fight the inferno. Allentown' three small volunteer Fire Companies (Lehigh, Friendship and Humane), with poor hand pump engines and almost no water, tried to contain it, but were helpless. Thick black smoke was seen as far away as Bethlehem. A Bethlehem Fire Company rushed to the scene, too late. Citizens tore down the market-house at Center Square to stop the fire from spreading eastward.

To 12 year-old F.J.F. Schantz, who had just come from school, it seemed like the end of the world. He never forgot "the ringing of bells, the cry of the people, the large volume of smoke that rose to the heavens...hurried movement of the people on the streets, the cry of the firemen and others who labored hard to arrest the advance of the fire."

When the smoke cleared, everything on Hamilton Street, from Market Square (now seventh Street) westward, the entire business district, lay in ashes. The losses were more than $200,000, an astronomical sum in 1848. Few properties were insured. Many families lost everything, many businessmen were ruined. Homeless families sought relatives in outlying areas for shelter. No one died, but the Lehigh Register reported a village in shock: "Weary worn and sick at heart with the labor and excitement of the last few days, we resume our pen to record the ruin of the fairest and most business portion of our Borough, by the most awful and destructive conflagration that ever [befell] us."All predicted that Allentown would not recover for decades, but the Great Fire was a turning point, a new beginning for the sleepy farm-market village that it had always been. The entire town rallied to help the victims. The next morning citizens met and formed committees to calculate losses, demolish tottering walls, and collect money and supplies for the victims.

The suddenly vacant land, cleared of rickety, old outmoded buildings, drew investors. New businesses and industries sprang up. The sleepy old market village became an industrial hub. A new Allentown arose from the ashes. Village leaders saw Thai they desperately needed a unified, professional fire department, not the disorganized neighborhood volunteer fire companies that existed. Today's Allentown Fire Department owes its existence to the Great Fire of 1848. Thus it is ironic that the Fire Department's first Fire Chief might well be the man who started the fire.

Mystery Unsolved

The stable where the Great Fire of 1848, started belonged to John Eckert, a tobacconist. On June 1, 1848 two apprentices were working in the stable when the blaze erupted. No one was ever charged with starting the fire. One of the apprentices was a young man of 18, named Simon P. Snyder. He was ab orphan who, with his brothers and sisters, had been adopted by Eckert as a young child.

Simon Snyder was no ordinary Young man. He was already a volunteer fireman in 1848, and belonged to the Lehigh Fire Company, one of the village's first volunteer fire companies. He understood fire and how quickly a single careless act could cause catastrophe. He knew that the tobacco stable was a tinderbox. Even if he did not personally cause the fire, he felt responsible for it. Somehow the fire started during his watch, and he failed to prevent it. He was there as the flames spread out of control. The event made a deep impression on Snyder. He dedicated the rest of his life to fighting fires, and became the first Fire Chief of Allentown' Fire Department when it was created in 1870.

John Czonska & Daniel Coalt

Terry Kennedy - Scout Leader extraordinaire

John Czonska & Daniel Coalt

First Fire Chiefs in Allentown, PA

by
Johnny Czonska and Daniel Coalt

Back then in 1811, when there was a fire, each ethnic neighborhood fire patrol would race each other to a fire to have first claim! Sometimes they would get into a fight over the fire instead of working together. This was not a good thing!

Let us give you an idea of what we had back then:
No fire trucks, only hoses carried by horse or by hand
No fire ladders until 1811
No fire hydrants until 1860

As a result of the fire of 1848, where 75% of Allentown burnt down, the fire fighters knew that they needed to change and work together. They elected a fire chief in 1870, who would bring all the fire companies together to teach the fire fighters how to work together and help them solve problems.

The first Fire Chief was Simon Snyder. Simon Snyder was the stepson of John Eckert and had first hand experience of the fire of 1848, which started in his stepfather's stable. He dedicated his life to saving people and property from fire. We not only honor him today, but all fire fighters and fire chiefs who put their lives at risk for us.

Simon Snyder
Wener K. Ruhe
Jacob S. Reninger
John P. Dillinger
Bigler Hoffert
Hafiz B. Cleveland
George Klein
Charles Cohn
Charles Grim
John Huffort
James Gallagher
William Kranzley
Edgar W. Wolf
Edwin P. Erb
Clarence Marks
John Butz
Walter Flores
Charles O'Donnell
Paul Knerr
William Thompson
Melvin Keyser
Clarence Paules
Ernest E. Toth

We honor all that are serving us today. Thank You!

Simon P. Snyder, First Fire Chief (1867- 1872)

Simon Snyder was born at Trexlertown, Pensylvania, on July 19, 1829, to Thomas Snyder and Debby Weiss Snyder. His parents died when he was a young child. The children were fostered out to several families. Simon and some of the younger children were taken to Allentown and given over to John Eckert, a cigar maker and tobacconist. Simon was taken out of school early to be taught the cigar trade by Mr. Eckert and made that his lifelong profession.

From his youth, Simon devoted himself to fire fighting. In 1845, at age 16, he joined the Lehigh Fire Company. Later he transferred to the Humane Fire Company . He was working at Eckert's Hall Street stable when the Great Fire ignited there on June 1, 1848. The disaster changed his life forever. He devoted himself as much as possible to improving fire fighting in his home town. He helped to create the Good Will Fire Company in June of 1850. When the newly-incorporated City of Allentown voted to create a paid, professional Fire Department in 1870, Snyder was chosen as First Chief Engineer (or Fire Chief). He was Fire Chief from 1870 to 1875, and retired from active service in 1881, but remained a member of the Good Will Fire Company until his death, at age 90, on Saturday, November 1, 1918. In addition to being Fire Chief, he was a cigar maker and had a tobacco store on the first floor of his home at 108 South Seventh Street, Allentown.

Simon Snyder never spoke about the Great Fire of 1848. The secret of how it began went with him to his grave.

John Czonska & David Coalt - Presenting
research material to Chief Scheirer

Allentown Fire Chief Robert C. Scheier

Emmanuel Tourreullas, Ethan Strunk & Barbara Miller
at the grave of George J. Klein

A Poem to Fire Fighters

By Ethan Sistrunk

See
Prople running fast,
Red flames in burning buildings,
Maps, axes, tanks and hoses.

Hear
The Screaming people
Engines roar, sirens blaring,
Crackling fire like the wind

Do
They do many jobs,
Eat, sleep, coook, play save lives
Do more than you think

Feel
Feeling scared yet strong
They feel freedom mixed with pride
Confused but focased

I think
Herp USA always prepared
Risking their lives to save us
Hero USA

Prayer for Our Fire Fighters

By Emmanuell Torruellas

Lord, we come before you right now to ask you to keep our fire chiefs and fire fighters in your hands. Help them find peace and comfort in your presence. Each time they have to put their lives at risk, please keep them safe from harm and grant them courage and strength to see their battles through. In the name of the Lord we pray.
Amen

Daniel Coalt

Jason McCully, Scout Master & ESOL Teacher

George J. Klein, 7th Fire Chief, Allentown Fire Department 1890--1893

George J. Kline was born on May 24, 1855, in Allentown. He joined the Liberty Fire Company No. 5 at age 17. He was a barber by trade. While fighting a disastrous fire in Allentown at the Hergesheimer building in the winter of 1879, at age 24, he collapsed inside the building and was subsequently drenched by the water fron the fire hoses. Fellow firemen discovered his frozen body only after the fire was extenguished. He was was so badly frozen that he lay in a coma for four days afterwards. He recovered, however, and became Allentown;s seventh Fire Chief at age 35, in 1890, and served as Chief for four years. his ordeal at the Hergesheimer fire had caused extensive nerve damage, and locomotoe ataxia resulted years later. The Allentown Morning Call reported that

blockquote>many of his friends attributed his later blindness to this fire and from that date the dreadful disease of locomoter ataxia began its slow but certain work. For [four years before his death in 1896] he has gradually been robbed of his sense of sight and means of locomotion. Following the loss of sight, the disease became evident in his walk. At first he resorted to the cane, but soon crutches were used, and finally he was not able to continue with these...100 of the citizens of Allentown bought him a rolling chair. While only 100 were needed to secure it, there were 500 ready to contribute to the same...In this chair, propelled by kindly hands, he was a familiar figure on the streets up to [one week ago].

His death will be mourned not by the family alone but by the hundreds of friends for whom he was an inspiration and example during his lifetime... Though, while well, he mingled with his fellow men with...light-heartedness and joviality...he had a faculty of leading and directing men and pacifying them that is given to few.

He was extremely popular. The Liberty and Allen Fire Companies purchased a team for him when he entered upon his duties as Chief of the Fire Department, which has since been turned over to every successive Fire Chief. He often attributed his success in fighting fires to the fact that he was enabled, with his team, to be at the scene early.

George Klein died on Monday, March 1, 1896, age 41, in his home at 248 North Fifth Street, Allentown. He was buried on Thursday morning,March 5, in West End Cemetery. His funeral was one of the largest ever attended in Allentown. The entire Liberty Fire Company, most of the men in Allentown's other fire companies, and numerous fire companies from across the Lehigh Valley attended. The hearse was drawn by the engine horses of the Liberty Fire Company, followed by the Chief's team led by Chief Kline's old horse "Dick."

Barbara Miller (front right) Evelyn Costelloe (back) program Coordinators

James B. Ruhf, Bagpiper, (far left)

The End of a Successful Journey into the Past!

Joseph Clauser Family

2010-06-04T09:50:00.000-04:00

In Section M' of the West End portion of the Union and West End Cemetery there is a small obelisk stone. On three of its four sides it is inscribed with the names of four children of Joseph P. and Mary Ann Clauser. The Clauser family lived in Allentown's 8th Ward at 748 N. Lumber Street.

Joseph Clauser was born in Pennsylvania in july, 1859. Mary was born in Pennsylvania, also in 1859. Joseph and Mary were married in 1882.

The circumstances of Joseph's birth are somewhat of a mystery. When he was just 11 months of age, he was enumerated in the 1860 census in the home of Peter and Anna Frantz. Peter and his wife were in their late fifties. Also in the household in addition to Joseph was their daughter, Mary, who was 25 and their son, Elias, who was 18. Several young men with the surname Frantz lived nearby with their families; Charles Frantz, age 25 years, lived next door with his wife Mary and their family.

In 1860 Peter was employed as a day laborer. His wife was at home keeping house and taking care of Joseph. Peter's daughter, Mary, worked as a domestic and Elias, his son, was employed as a Postman. There is no explanation as to why Joseph P. Clause is in the Frantz household. Possibly adopted or perhaps the son of a relative; unfortunately, the circumstances are not known.

Joseph Clauser, upon reaching manhood and marrying, was employed as a day laborer, but by 1910 he is shown working as an engineer in a boiler works.

Mary Clauser, Joseph's wife, gave birth to six children as follows:
Edward J., born April 20, 1888.
Eva A., born 1890
Maggie M. A., born and died 1892
Jennie C., born April 1894
Charles P., born June 10, 1898
Joseph A., born June 1899

Edward died July 12, 1928 at age 40. during his life he worked as a finisher in a furniture factory. He later was a laborer in a boiler works, presumably the same boiler works that employed his father.

Eva died in 1894, just four years of age.

Maggie, as noted above, was likely still-born.

Jennie, at age 16 years, was a quilter in a knitting mill. She would later marry Harry C. Fritch, who worked for the railroad. They lived at 339 Union Street and they had two daughters.

Charles died on Christmas day, December 25, 1888, aged 6 months 15 days. It must have been a very sad Christmas for the family in 1888.

Joseph A. Clauser, at age 21 years, was living in Philadelphia in 1920. He is married to Lucy M. Sherildan, employed as an optician in a retail optical store and he and his wife are living in the 46th Ward at 25 Salford Street in the home of Lucy's mother, Mrs. Mary Sherildan.

Mary Clauser died in 1917. Shortly there after, Joseph P. Clauser was found living with his daughter, Jennie, in 1920 and was still employed at the boiler works.

It is not known when Joseph P. Clauser died, he is buried along side his wife in the family plot, but his death date is not shown on the stone. The four children whose graves are marked by the oblelisk lie across from their parents; They are: Charles P., Eva A., Maggie M. A., and Edward J.

Joseph P. Clauser's headstone is on the left, his wife, Mary Ann on the right.

It must have been difficult for Joseph and Mary, and most particularly for Mary, to lose three of her six children during her lifetime. She predeceased Edward, who died at age forty.

Lying in graves to the right of Peter and Mary Clauser is the grave of Charles Frantz and his wife, Mary. Their headstones are shown above. The eight graves are in an area that would normally accomodate ten graves. There is no evidence of more than the eight graves. Since Mary Frantz died on July 13, 1892 and Charles Frantz died on August 30, 1903, it is believed that the plot was originally purchased by Charles Frantz. Cemetery records show that the owner of record was Joseph P. Clauser, with an entry date of November 18, 1903: a few months after Charles' death and long after all cemetery plots had been sold.

It should be noted that Charles Frantz served with Company G' 176th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment during the Civil War.

Joseph Clauser was not selected for inclusion in this blog because of any particular good deed or for any great accomplishment in his lifetime. He was, for the most part, a hard working father and husband, living in a difficult time, trying to provide for his family. What drew me to this particular family was the obelisk with the names of so many of their offspring. It is the tragedies that befell this family that draws one to them. That is the only reason for singling them out. May they rest in peace for all eternity.

Flag Day in the Cemetery

2010-06-03T12:34:00.009-04:00

On Saturday, May 15, 2010, members of Chapter 190 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart along with members of the cemetery association were in the cemetery to place new flags on the graves of every veteran of every war.

There were close to a thousand flags placed on the graves of those that had been identified as having fought in a war involving Americans. Flags were placed on graves of veterans of the French Indian War, Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, Mexican-American War, Civil War, the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, and the Viet Nam War.

Don Johnson of the MOPH placing a new flag on a veterans grave

Janet Hagenauer, Director of cemetery association and cemetery "Historian".
Janet located all of the veterans graves in the cemetery

New flags are placed on the graves of veterans buried in the Union & West End Cemetery and at cemeteries through-out the State,twice a year, just prior to Memorial Day and then again in November prior to Armed Forces Day. The flags are provided free of charge to veterans organizations by the Office of Veterans Affairs.

Security for the Cemetery

2010-03-22T21:11:00.008-04:00

The cemetery is in the process of utilizing digit security cameras to protect the cemetery against vandalism, crminal trespass, and other illegal activities.

On Sunday afternoon, March 21, 2010, I was contacted by a neighbor of the cemetery announcing that someone had dumped a number of gargage bags in front of the cemetery garage-office.

Upon investigating, I did indeed find five or six bags of grabage in front of Bay door #1.

A search of the security system found acrivity at approximately 18:46:45. The time was actually an hour later as the system has not been adjusted for daylight savings.

The guilty individual can be seem reentering his car after having removed the garbage bags from the trunk of his car and dumping them in the street in fron of the cemetery.

He then proceeds mto drive away. The datardly deed took only 1 minute and he is gone.

Please keep in mind that the images shown here were taken of a sreen shot by a hand-held digital camera.

Hopefully the cameras will act as a deterent, but it is doubtful we will be able to actyallt identify anyone captured on camera.

Strange Happenings in the Cemetery

2009-08-02T16:18:00.010-04:00

Saturday was a nice day for cutting grass in the cemetery, but it was an even better day for picnics and backyard Bar B' Ques. Must be why I was in the cemetery alone.

No I wasn't there to cut grass either; my mission was to ensure we had ample gasoline to run the equipment as the Allentown Community Correction Center would be sending in a group on Sunday to assist us with the maintenance of the cemetery.

I loaded up all of the gas cans and as I was leaving the cemetery using a less traveled road past Sections F' & H' of the cemetery I saw something that seemed out of place as I looked left toward North Street. It didn't register immediately but just a few feet further on I slammed on the brakes and came to an abrupt halt. I backed up until I was parallel to the item that caught my eye; Lo' and behold, there 40 yards or so to my left and just inside the wrought iron fence that runs along North Street (an alley), a sail boat! Yes, a sail boat. Holy Sh_t, what is a sail boat doing in the cemetery?

Everette Carr, Vice President - Uion West End Cemetery Association with the sail boat.

After examing the boat, it looked like it had not seen water in quite a few years, I called the non- emergency number for the Allenton Police Department. They dispatched an officer to the scene. I took this opportuniy to take a number of photographs of the boat. The boat appeared to be between 12 and 14 feet in length and it was quite heavy. I could neither lift it nor pull it.

A short time later Officer Graig Koppel of the Allentown Police arrived at the location by approaching down North Street. To investigate, he had to climb over the fence. He took down the information I provided as to who I was and why I was in the cemetery. We then began to speculate as to how the boat got there and I offered that it might have been stolen and then abandoned. A passerby suggested that it could be a college prank. Officer Koppel informed me that no boats had been reported stolen. He surmised that it probably was left at a home that had been recently sold or rentnd and the new owner/tenant wanted to get rid of it. The cemetery was handy.

He was finished with his report, so Officer Kopel was preparing to leave when I asked what would happen to the boat? He suggested that I have someone tow it away. I wasn't surprised to learn that it was my problem. I thought that maybe the easiest thing would be to plant flowers in it.

Just as Officer Koppel was about to climb back over the fence, we heard someone yell; "That's my boat." A man and woman were approaching from the south side of the cemetery so Officer Koppel and I stood there with our mouths open.

A man by the name of Barry, we learned later, along with his girlfriend approached claiming ownership of the boat. Barry's story in response to Officer Koppel's questions seemed more than a little confusing. Eventually, it turned out that some unknown person left the boat in Barry's garage. Barry lives in the vicinity of 10th and Allen streets. When asked what the boat was doing in the cemetery and how it got there, we were able to determine that when Barry discovered the boat in his garage he called around trying to find out who put it there, no one claimed any knowledge. Then he called a friend that said he would like to have the boat. The friend lived somewhere south of Chew Street.

How he got the boat from his house to the cemetery is somewhat of a mystery. He denies putting it over the fence into the cemetery proper, but... According to Barry, he left the boat outside the cemetery to go fetch a hand dolly to make the last part of the trip easier. When he approached Officer Kopplel and me he had a hand cart. Although Officer Koppel and I were skeptical, he claimed he would be able to transport it the rest o the way using the hand cart. I asked the officer if it would be okay if Barry took it and he stated that it was my decision. Since the cemetery didn't have much use for sail boat without a keel,a tiller and rudder, not to mention tha absence of a mast, sails and rigging. I mean, how do sail a boat in a cemetery without these ssentials?

So, all things considered I felt that if he could remove the boat, that would be a good thing. The last I saw of Barry he was trudging across the cemetery with his girlfriend guiding him in the general direction of Chew Street. When I returned after filling all of our gas cans, neither Barry, his girfriend or the boat wre anywhere in sight.

Another strange episode in the cemetery and fodder for the blog.

Memorial Day Ceremonies - May 30, 2009

2009-05-23T09:44:00.008-04:00

The Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 190 will hold Memorial Day Ceremonies in the Union and West End Cemetery at 10:00 A.M. on Saturday, May 30, 2009.

Boy Scouts from Troop 99 from the Cleveland Elementary School, Allentown, will be present to assist the Veterans with the ceremony. Following the ceremony, their will be a "Flag Burning" ceremony and that will be followed by lunch for the Scouts and their immediate family. Lunch is provided by the Union & west End Cemetery Association.

Memorial Day Ceremony

Presented by the Military Order of the Purple Heart

Chapter 190

Union and Werst End Cemetery

10:00 A.M., Saturday

May 30, 2009

Peregrine Falcon Still Close to Home

2008-08-25T11:04:00.003-04:00

Peregrine falcons are an endangered species in Pennsylvania.

This spring (May) four peregrine falcon eggs hatched from eggs high above downtown Allentown, atop the P P & L headquarters building at ninth and Hamilton Streets. Four peregrine falcons hatched from these eggs, the first falcons born in Lehigh County in some time.

In no time at all the fledglings spread their new wings and took flight. Sometime after the immature falcons were airborne a falcon was spotted in the Union and West End Cemetery which is located at 10th and Chew in Allentown; practically in the shadow of the P P & L building. Whether the spotting's were of one of the parents or a juvenile falcon, it is hard to say.

The on Sunday of this week (Aug 24, 2008), with a work party in the cemetery, a falcon kept close watch on the proceedings, no doubt hoping that a lawn mower would scare up a rabbit or perhaps a snake. The falcon seemed undeterred by the close presence of the work crew, perched high atop one of the obelisk monuments, quiet close to the workers.

Click on image to view larger image in a new window

The new juvenile falcons were banded while atop the P P & L building. In the photos taken on Sunday it is difficult to determine if a yellow band is present on the right leg of the bird, but it seems so in some of the shots. Not being an expert at such matters, I would hesitate to declare that this is a juvenile bird as opposed to one of the parents, but it appears to me to be an immature bird.

Click on image to view larger image in a new window

Experts have indicated that it is unlikely that the offspring will stay in the area. It is expected that the parents will return each year to the same nest. Perhaps the parents and the juveniles are waiting the approach of fall before migrating southward. With cooler weather and prevailing winds, they should all take flight in the very near future.

The cemetery is already the hunting grounds of a pair of red tailed hawks, Appears that we can expect visits from the male falcon as well once new eggs are laid in the nest next spring.

Allentown is fortunate to have this wonderful historical cemetery in their mist. It is a shame that the home owners living close to the cemetery don't do more to help keep it clean and tidy.

The cemetery is in the Old Allentown Historical District and we are proud of it's history and it's beauty, it is a shame that others do not embrace it as well.

Click on image to view larger image in a new window

Camp Geiger

2008-06-27T10:13:00.001-04:00

Memorial Day Ceremonies

2008-05-17T12:50:00.002-04:00

On Friday, May 30, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. the Military Order of the Purple, Chapter 190, Allentown, PA, will celebrate the traditional Memorial Day at the Union & West End Cemetery.

Take note that while others celebrate this sacred event on Monday, May 26, this group of veterans will be celebrating on the traditional day of observance. The traditional Memorial Day, also known as Decoration Day, is on the 30th of May.

Memorial Day used to be a solemn day of mourning, a sacred day of remembrance to honor those who paid the ultimate price for our freedoms. Businesses closed for the day. Towns held parades honoring the fallen, the parade routes often times ending at a local cemetery, where Memorial Day speeches were given and prayers offered up. People took the time that day to clean and decorate with flowers and flags the graves of those the fell in service to their country.

"Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic." -- General Logan - May 5, 1868

We all need to remember with sincere respect those who paid the price for our freedoms; we need to keep in sacred remembrance those who died serving their country. We need to never let them be forgotten.

Over the years the original meaning and spirit of Memorial Day has faded from the public consciousness.

Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general publics' nonchalant observance of Memorial Day."

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

Monia Michael

Come join the veterans of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 190, and the officers and directors of the Union and West End Cemetery for a beautiful and solemn Memorial Day Celebration.

Computer Problems

2008-02-25T15:56:00.002-05:00

Experiencing computer problems which will be resolved soon. Post will continue in the near future. Thank you for your patience.

Sherman in Atlanta

2007-12-28T15:59:00.003-05:00

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Confederate General John B Hood withdrew drom Atlanta on September 1, 1864, leaving the beleagured city to the Union forces of Major General William T. Sherman.

Hood regrouped his Army of Tennessee, now 35,000 strong. It was his intent to disrupt Sherman's lines of communications particularly along the railroads into and out of Atlanta.

Sherman decided to pursue Hood, leaving a token force in Atlanta and dispatching Major General George H. Thomas with a division to defend the strtegically important city of Nashville.

The two armies clashed on Snake Creek Gap but Hood withdrew further west to Gadsden, Alabama. Sherman surmised that Hood was trying to pull him further and further away from Atlanta, so he returned to Atlanta to plan his campaign - the "March to the Sea" through Georgia. He left Thomas at his rear.

Hood then positioned his forces of 18 brigades of infantry, drawn up in a line of battle across two miles of open field

Reporting the Civil War

2007-12-24T22:05:00.002-05:00

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Boston's distinguished man of letters, followed the war news with interest. Holmes wrote; "We must have something to eat, and papers to read. Everything else we can do without...Only bread and newspapers we must have."

To satisfy the public appetite for news a small army of Northern correspondents was organized. So thorough was their coverage that opposing generals sometimes learned more from enemy newspapers than from intelligence reports. General William T. Sherman, carrying on his own private war with the newspapers, grew apoplectic on the subject. "Reporters print their limited and tainted observations as the history of events they neither see nor comprehend," he wrote in agitated fury.

The Civil War also saw the dawn of pictorial journalism. Vivid eyewitness sketches by Alfred and William Wand, Henri Lovie, Winslow Homer and Edwin Forbes turned up in Harper's and Leslie's, bring the experiences of war vicariously to thousands who would never see a battlefield.

Hampton Roads, Va., C.S.S Virginia vs. U.S.S Monitor, engraving, 1863

The best known photographers, Mathew Brady and Alexander Garner and others were recording the tragic scenes of the great conflict as well. Hundreds upon hundreds of period photographs survive and can be found in the collection held by the Library of Congress. Most of the scenes, of necessity, were taken of battlefields after the battle was fought.

Mathew Brady Alexander Gardner

Manassas, Va, Confederate fortifications occupied bny Federal troops, March 1863

Manassas, Va., Orange & Alexandria RR destroyed by retreating Rebels, March 1863

Horace Greeley, the incomparable eccentric, was a leading figure in his own right. Across the nation Greeley's Tribune was the family news source. Horace was not above advising the President if he deemed it necessary. Lincoln often invited reporters to the White House, in fact. "I am always seeking information," he explained, "and you newspapermen are so often behind the scenes at thew front I am frequently able to get ideas from you which no one else will give."

The South had few, if any, professional reporters in the field. Most small Southern newspapers relied on soldiers sending letters for the war news. The newspaper Editors would recruit soldiers from hometown units to periodically send back letters reporting on the movements of a particular regiment or graphically detailing the events of a battle they had participated in. But whether amateur or professional, reporters reported and the news was printed. The citizens hungered for news of the war, both North and South and relished reading any scrap of information on the events of the war.

All photographs shown above, courtesy of the Library of Congress

Sherman Occupies Atlanta

2007-12-11T11:34:00.001-05:00

Confederate General John B. Hood withdrew from Atlanta on September 1, 1864, leaving the beleaguered city to the Union forces under Major General William T. Sherman.
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Hood regrouped his Army of Tennessee, now 35,000 strong, south of Atlanta. He skirted the city moving into position to the north with the intent of disrupting Sherman's lines of communications, particularly along the railroads out of Atlanta.

Sherman decided it was time to pursue Hood to stop the harassment. Leaving only a token force in Atlanta and dispatching Major General George H. Thomas with a division to defend the strategically important Tennessee city of Nashville.

Sherman and Hood clashed on October 15th at Snake Creek Gap but Hood withdrew farther west to Gadsden, Alabama. Sherman surmised that Hood was trying to pull him further and further away from Atlanta, so he broke off the pursuit and returned to Atlanta to plan his campaign - the "March to the Sea" through Georgia. Sherman left Thomas to hold Hood to his rear.

Franklin

When General John B. Hood became aware that Sherman had split his forces and returned to Atlanta, he revised his plans. As ambitious as it was, he intended to march on Nashville. Unfortunately for Hood, he delayed the crossing of the Tennessee River until November 21st. By that time, Sherman had decided that Thomas needed to be reinforced and he dispatched Major General David S. Stanley's IV Corps from the Army of the Cumberland, Major General John M. Schoefield's XXIII Corps from the Army of Ohio and three divisions of XVI Corps of the Army of Tennessee, a total of 60,000 men.

Gen Schoefield feared that he would be isolated from Nashville if Hood moved to cut him off, so he evaded Hood and reached the comparative safety of Franklin;s fortifications. by dawn on November 30th.

Hood with s force of 40,000 reached Franklin by mid-day of the 30th. The Union force numbered only 26,000 but they had established a strong defensive position behind fortifications. Hood positioned his force of 18 brigades of infantry in a line of battle across two miles of open field, for a frontal assault of the Union fortifications. It was a tragic repetition of the fatal charge at Gettysburg but on an even larger scale.

"For the moment," a Federal officer wrote, " We were spellbound with admiration, although...we knew that in a few brief moments, as soon as they came within firing range, all that orderly grandeur would be changed to bleeding, writhing confusion..."

Five Confederate generals were killed. Six others wounded, one mortally, and another captured. Altogether the Confederates suffered 7,000 casualties among their ranks. The Union army only 2,300 casualties. While the wounded and dying Rebels lay on the battle field, moaning in agony, the Union force slipped out under the cover of night and withdrew to Nashville.

General Hood stubbornly continued toward Nashville in pursuit and put up breastworks fronting the entrenched Federal lines. Snow, freezing rain and sleet paralyzed everything for awhile. But when the weather cleared and the thaw came, the Federal force emerged and in 2 days of fighting, sent Hood reeling. The Army of Tennessee had become a disheartened and disorganized rabble of half armed and barefoot men. The survivors made their way south to Mississippi.

Lincoln Faces Re-Election

2007-12-02T13:31:00.000-05:00

Despite the fact that the Nation was at war, Lincoln faced re-election in the autumn of 1864. Lincoln, of course, was a Republican or Union, as the Republican party called itself in 1864. His opponent, General McClellan, the erstwhile commander-in-chief of the Union army, who had stood on the sidelines since his departure as commander-in-chief in late 1862.

Allen Pinkerton, President Lincoln and Maj. Gen. John A. McClelland

There were a number of issues that marked the campaign, the concerns over prisoners of war and how best to achieve peace with the South. Lincoln felt that peace could only be achieved through victory, while the Democrats sought peace through negotiation.

A major factor in the public's war weariness was the presence of many thousands of Northern soldiers in Southern prison camps, where living conditions were atrocious and the death rate was alarmingly high. In the initial years of the war the opposing governments had operated on a system of prisoner exchanges, by which prisoners would be periodically repatriated on a man-for-man basis. But by 1864 the system had broken down, and when Grant took control, he had no intention to put it in repair. With pitiless logic, Grant argued that to resume exchanges would simply reinforce the Confederate army. Union soldiers in Southern prison camps would have to stay there, and if they died like flies, that was regrettable but unavoidable.

The Presidential campaign of 1864 was, all in all, about the most crucial political contest in American history. It was a campaign in which what men said made very little difference. Speeches were of small account. It ultimately came down to what the men in uniform did that mattered most. If the war was alleged to be a failure on election day, then the Republicans, or Union Party would go down in defeat. If however, if on election day the war were clearly being won, the Democratic campaign would come to nothing. Everything depended on the fighting men. If they were winning, then Lincoln would win. He would not win otherwise.

Although General McClelland, the former commander-in-chief of the Union army was running against Lincoln, the troops in the field voted four to one for Lincoln. This was a higher percentage than Lincoln enjoyed among civilians. Lincoln carried all the states voting with the exception of Kentucky, Delaware and New Jersey.

Angel In The Cemetery

2007-11-21T23:24:00.000-05:00

Yes, there are a number of angels in the Union & West End Cemetery, but the particular angel that is the subject of this post is, or was, headless.

Hard to believe, but back in 1998 the cemetery was abandoned. The grass and weeds were higher than many stones. Vandalism was a serious problem. Someone had climbed up on the above monument and managed to decapitate the angel. As you can see, this was and is a beautiful angel, carrying a child or young adult to heaven.

Who would do such a thing? What mindless idiot would take pleasure in defacing beautiful monuments in a cemetery?

The head lay on the ground among the overgrown grass and weeds. How long the head lay there is not known. But one day, while out on a stroll in the cemetery, Mark Kintzel, who does not live too far away, noticed the angel head lying in the weeds. He picked it up and took it home for safe keeping. The angel head resided with Mark until the year 2007, almost a decade. Then Mark contacted the cemetery President, Chuck Canning and indicated he had the head and would like to return it to its appropriate place in the cemetery.

The cemetery association was once again in possession of the angel head. On September 16, 2007, Chuck Canning, President and Everette Carr, Vice President, were in the cemetery along with Gene Litgeb, who owns a backhoe. With Chuck precariously positioned in the bucket of the backhoe, it was raised to a position that would allow Chuck to glue the head back on the shoulders of the angel.

A short time later, the angel with head restored (see rope securing it temporarily), was once again a beautiful and magnificent monument gracing the cemetery grounds.

The Battle of Mobile Bay

2007-10-27T19:22:00.000-04:00

Sherman had taken Atlanta and was prepared to leave Atlanta on his march to the sea. Grant, in the Shenandoah Valley had Lee on the run and the Federals controlled the Mississippi River. The capture of Mobile had long been desired. It was an important base of operations and blockade-running could not be entirely prevented with vessels outside the port

The principle defenses of Mobile Bay were Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines, three miles to the northwest. The passage between these two forts was obstructed by torpedoes strung out from Fort Gaines to a point nearly to Fort Morgan. An opening at the eastern end allowed blockade-runners to enter the port.

Rear Admiral David G. Farragut made plans to take possession of the port He needed and wanted a military force to attack and capture the forts, and when the forces were provided, Farragut made careful preparations. The attacking column consisted of four iron-clad monitors and seven wooden sloops-of-war. The heaviest fire was anticipated to come from Fort Morgan, on the right, or starboard, side. The Brooklyn headed the line of the wooden vessels, because she was equipped with an apparatus for picking up torpedoes. As they approached, the forts and the Confederate fleet opened fire upon them. The Hartford, Farragut's flag ship, their primary target. A hundred and twenty-pound ball was lodged in the mainmast, sending splinters flying across her deck killing many of her crew. The other wooden vessels suffered in like manner as they approached. But when they came abreast of the fort they poured in rapid broadsides of grape-shot, shrapnel, and shells, which quickly cleared the bastions and silenced the batteries.

Admiral Farragut, through out the battle was in the rigging of the Hartford where the quartermaster had tied him to the shrouds, so that if he were wounded he would not fall to the deck. All of the Confederate gun boats were captured in short order. The Confederate ram, Tennessee, continued the fight, steaming boldly into their midst and firing in every direction while also attempting to ram them. One of the Federal monitors fired a solid shot that penetrated her armor; they jammed her shutters so that the portholes could not be opened; they shot away her steering-gear and knocked off her smoke stack, so that life on board her became intolerable, and she surrendered. Her commander, Franklin Buchanan, formerly of the U. S. navy, had been seriously wounded.

From a Painting by W. H. Overend

The victory cost Farragut's fleet fifty-two men killed and one hindered and seventy wounded in addition to one hundred and thirteen that went down when the Tecumseh hit a torpedo. The Confederate forts were soon after surrendered to the land forces. Mobile Bay was now occupied by the victors. Sherman would soon split the Confederacy down the middle.

Rodeo in the Cemetery

2007-10-24T00:41:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, October 20, the officers, directors and a number of volunteers attended a rodeo in the cemetery. The participants gathered on the main road of the cemetery on that Saturday for a morning of fun and laughter. It was a beautiful day in the Lehigh Valley, with lots of sun and a light breeze.

The participants gathered to receive instructions on the operation of the some of the cemetery's equipment. The cemetery owns several commercial lawn mowers that are somewhat intimidating. These units a powerful units that are classified as zero-turn machines. They can literally turn on a dime. They are steered using two handles that are positioned across the body as you sit on the lawn mower. The participants are all familiar with the traditional long hood mowers with steering wheels, but levers is a whole different matter. It is the levers and the power that tend to intimidate. Many of the participants in the rodeo had never even sat on one of the commercial mowers, much less operated them under power.

Scag

The Scag was purchased new in 2001, so it has a little age on her and a few bumps and bruises. Her meter show 893 hours of operation. She is equipped with a 19.0 horsepower Briggs & Stratton engine and because of her age, is a little sluggish, but still spry.

"Zoey"

The Gravely is a model 148Z. Her name is "Zoey" and she has a 21.0 horsepower Kawasaki engine. She was acquired just this past August and was a demonstrator with only 79 hours on the meter. Zoey was a gift to the cemetery association from the Ariens Company, Brillion, WI. Zoey is powerful, responds like a thoroughbred and can race across the cemetery purring like the confident, contented creature she is.

The City of Allentown Traffic Department supplied large orange cones that were used to lay out an obstacle course. Each participant, after being thoroughly indoctrinated in the operation of the equipment, gingerly maneuvered the machines through the course. Cones were bumped, moved, shoved aside, run over, mashed and mutilated. It was a riot! Laughter permeated the air as the ones on board the powerful machines muttered under their breath. In time, however, they became less wary and more comfortable with the equipment. Each and everyone eventually mastered the equipment and they are now ready to take the machines out into the cemetery where they will face the challenge of trying not to knock over any stones.

Dave

Nikki

The rodeo was a great success and after many a laugh at the expense of the trainees, we all enjoyed a cookout, with hot dogs, potato salad, macaroni salad, apple sauce, chips, fudge, a cake and a beverage of choice.

It was great fun and a very enjoyable day in the cemetery. You could have been there. If you wish to volunteer, send us an e-mail. It isn't all hard work and no pay!

The Valley Campaign

2007-10-04T15:55:00.000-04:00

While Lee lay helpless in Petersburg, Sherman began his march to the sea. Lee cast about for some maneuver that would force Grant to pull troops away from the Union Army and weaken the siege. An opportunity came when General Jubal Early chased Federal forces from the Shenandoah Valley, freeing him for other operations. Lee authorized Early to cross the Potomac and threaten Washington. Lee knew that Grant would have to send reinforcements to the capital.

With 17,000 men, Early and his Confederate forces headed north at the end of June, 1864.As Early approached Maryland, the only Federal detachment of 6,000 Union forces under the command of Gen earl Lew Wallace. They were easily routed and Early continued on toward Silver Springs, Maryland, on the outskirts of Washington. He arrived on the 11th of July. At that time, Early could have taken Washington had he pursued an aggressive attack, but he received reports of Federal reinforcements pouring into the city from Grants forces.

By the 14th of July, Early was back in Virginia and heading for the Shenandoah. Lee had anticipated that Grant would send more Federal forces from Petersburg to chase Early, and indeed, Grant did just that. He dispatched General Phil Sheridan with 48,000 troops into the Shenandoah with there primary job being to wreck the farms, burn the crops, and confiscate the livestock. The Federals pushed into the Shenandoah leaving a trail of fire and devastation in their wake.

The Federals caught up with Early at Winchester. Early' forces, battered fled south with Union cavalry in pursuit. Sheridan attacked Early again at Fisher's Hill, where the Rebels had dug in strongly. The Confederates were routed again. Sheridan then turned North to commence again the work of destruction.

Early reorganized his Rebel forces and began to harass the Yankees. General Sheridan was called away to Washington to confer with his superiors. On his return, on October 18, he stopped off at Winchester, some 20 miles from where his army was encamped at Cedar Creek. The next morning, Sheridan awoke to the sound of firing in the distance. Sheridan quickly mounted his charger and took to the road. As the firing was approaching him faster than he was approaching it, he realized that his men must be retreating under pursuit and heavy fire.

Galloping over a rise, Sheridan saw his army in full flight. Early had mounted a surprise attack on the sleeping Federals and they had bolted out of camp and were running for their lives. Sheridan took note that many in their underclothes still held tight to their rifles. As he charged down the road, hat waving over his head, the soldiers cheered. As he roared by screaming like a demon, the word spread to the far reaches of his scattered army. It took a full two hours to get the Federals ready for battle. Meanwhile, the Rebels dallied around the abandoned Federal camp eating the Federals food and drinking their whiskey.

Battle of Cedar Creek © Kurz & Allison

Sheridan and the Federal troops swept out to the attack, the sound swelling like an oncoming cyclone. The Rebels had little choice but to skedaddle as fast as they could, every man for himself. The battle of Cedar Creek finally ended Early's power in the Shenandoah valley. In March 1865, General Custer's cavalrymen wiped out the remains of the Confederate army under Jubal Early at Waynesboro. Early and two officers escaped with only twenty men. Sheridan completed his mission by the sacking of the once-beautiful valley, destroying or confiscating its farms, crops, animals, mills, powder works, barns, tanneries and railroads. Then he headed back to join Grant in his efforts to finish off General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia.

Painting of General Sheirdan's ride, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University.

"Ghost of the Cemetery, Voices from the Dead"

2007-09-15T16:35:00.000-04:00

"Ghost of the Cemetery,

Voices from the Dead"

The Lehigh County Heritage Museum Presents

"Ghost of the Cemetery, Voices from the Dead"

Union & West End Cemetery

Friday & Saturday, October 5th & 6th, 2007

6—10 p.m.,

the last tour leaves at 9 p.m.

(Rain Dates are October 12th and 14th)

Guides and costumed actors portray dramatic

stories of the men, women, and children

who are buried beneath your feet.

Hour-long tours leave every 15 minutes

from the cemetery entrance on

10th Street north of Chew Street,

in Allentown.

Please bring a flashlight.

Cost: $8.00 adults; $5.00 children

For additional information, please visit the

Lehigh County Heritage Museum

by clicking on the link below:

Lehigh County Heritage Museum

A Gift From the Ariens Company

2007-09-04T21:52:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, September 4, 2007, the Union and West Cemetery was the recipient of a wonderful gift from the Ariens Company in Brillion, Wisconsin. The cemetery association took delivery of a Gravely model 148Z zero turn commercial mower. This Gravely unit was a demonstrator which was donated to the cemetery association by the Ariens Company, the manufacturer of Gravely products.

This is a great addition to the cemetery's aging fleet. The mower has a 48" deck. The cemetery association is indebted to the Ariens Company and to the President and CEO, Daniel Ariens, in particular. Thank you Ariens Company, the association members are appreciative of your generosity and your willingness to help a historic cemetery in need.

Thank You, Ariens Company!

Visit the Ariens Company web site at:

http://www.ariens.com/

Occassionally Something Stupid Happens

2007-08-26T18:35:00.000-04:00

This was not a typical Sunday morning in the cemetery. It started out fairly normal, there were about nineteen helpers in the cemetery from 8 a.m. until about 11 a.m. courtesy of the Allentown Community Corrections Center. It had rained off and on during the evening and the grass was very wet, so a decision was made not to take out any riding lawn mowers. Most of the men were put into the cemetery with weed-whackers and a couple of push mowers. Others were assigned to a team that would place downed stones back on their pedestals.

In a supervisory position, I was overseeing the weed whackers who were concentrating on the "corrals", for the most part. A corral is a family plot16' X 16' that is completely enclosed with concrete posts and metal railings. A corral is a very difficult plot to maintain in a cemetery because the railings prevent any large equipment from entering. As a result, they are frequently allowed to become overgrown before they are addressed.

So, today, the task was to cut the grass in every corral in the cemetery using weed-whackers and push mowers. As I stated above, I was, for the most part, supervising and directing, but used the Scag Commercial mower to ride herd on the volunteers and to cut some grass around the corrals.

When the allotted three hours was up, all of the volunteers cleaned and put away their equipment. To help in the cleaning, we use a air compressor to blow grass off the equipment and also to air tires that are low. But mostly it is used for blowing off equipment and volunteers. When weed-whacking in wet grass, the clothes one wears tend to get more than a little grass-stained. Some of the volunteers were using the compressor to attempt to clean their pants, and I became impatient to put away the Scag. I saw an opening, although it meant driving over the bright orange hose connected to the compressor. This would not ordinarily be a problem except for the fact that the deck on the Scag was in the lowest position and the three blades were churning as fast as they could go. I failed to realize that, after using the Scag to clean off the driveway, I had neither shut off the blades nor lifted the deck as would be appropriate when putting a riding lawn mower in the garage.

Whoa! The Scag collected up the hose, jerking the nozzle out of the hands of the unsuspecting volunteer, and wrapping yards of the hose around all three blades. The Scag came to a halt. The driver said; Oh Heck! or words to that effect as he realized what he had done. Fortunately no one was hurt in the incident, but the driver of the Scag was mortified. As he surveyed the damage, the volunteers were departing; one looked back and said: "Good Luck with that!"

Good Luck, indeed. There was nothing lucky about the sordid incident except that no one was injured. Aside from that, the cemetery has a new hose for the compressor courtesy of the Scag driver.

The Blogger, also known as the Scag Driver sitting confident on the Scag.

He wasn't as confident or cocky after gathering up the compressor hose.

But don't let this incident cause you any concern. The cemetery needs volunteers to help maintain the premises. It isn't all hard work and toil. We actually find many rewarding moments in the cemetery. At the end of the day, there is always that feeling of having accomplished something, something special.

And yes there are humorous incidences as well. My fellow board members are surely not going to let me hear the last of my blunder with the compressor hose. This season of grass cutting is winding down, but come next spring, if you are in the Lehigh Valley area, come out and join us. We could always use another pair of hands.

Civil War Re-enactment

2007-08-21T14:24:00.000-04:00

On a pleasant Saturday morning on August 11, 2007, the Union & West End Cemetery Association presented the "Four Days in April, Allentown's First Defenders." The annual re-eanactment event took place in the cemetery. A walking tour was conducted by the widow Yeager (portrayed by Barbara Miller) and she was accompanied by a color guard and a fife and drum corps. Those that had come to the cemetery that day were interested in history and wanted to experience it first hand in a historical cemetery. Visitors were led through the cemetery by the widow Yeager (widow of Captain Thomas Yeager, founder of the Allen Infantry in 1858) as they visited each of the graves of the twenty-three Civil War Veterans of Captain Yeager's Allen Infantry that are buried in the Union & West End Cemetery.

Imagine, there were only forty-eight men in the Allen Infantry militia unit when they went to war. They were one of the first companies to answer the Presidents call for 75,000 troops to defend the Capital. This unit and four others from rural counties in Pennsylvania boarded trains within days of the firing on Fort Sumter. When Rebel forces fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, the import was clear; they had fired on the flag of the United States of America and thus, the "War Betrween the States" was begun.

The five militia units totaled but 530 poorly equipped men. But these five Pennsylvania units were the first to reach the Capital and a greatful President. From that time forward they would be known and celebrated as the "First Defenders."

As the assembled visitors followed the chosen path through the cemetery, the widow Yeager gave brief insight into each of the First Defenders as the spectators moved from grave to grave. Only forty-eight men and twenty three are buried in the historic Union and West End Cemetery. In total, the cemetery is the final resting place of 714 Union Veterans. The second largest congregation of Civil War veterans outside of the National Cemetery in Gettysburg.

When the group of visitors arrived at the Grand Army of the Republic burial plot under the flag in the cemetery, the visitors were greeted by the association President, Charles Canning. President Canning welcomed the assembled group, acknowledged dignitaries in the crowd of onlookers and introduced William Grim, Burgess of the Borough of Allentown in 1861 (potrayed by Everette Carr). Burgess Grim spoke of the history of Militia units in America and the 'Allen Infantry' militia unit in particular. He spoke of the vital role the five Pennsylvania militia units played in defending the imperiled capital at Washington at the outbreak of the Civil War.

Burgess Grim also spoke of the grand celebration when the men of the Allen Infantry returned home to Allentown on July 24th, 1861. Hundreds of well-wishers turned out to greet them. Band played, crowds of people cheered, there was a parade and a banquet at the Eagle Hotel that lasted well into the evening.

Many of the men of the Allen Infantry that served their ninty day enlistment in Company G' of the Twenty-fifth Volunteer Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment went on the serve longer terms of service with other units. Captain Thomas Yeager, enrolled, as a Major, in the fifty-third Pennslvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment and was killed at the Battle of Fair Oaks in Virginia on 1 June 1862. On May 31st, the day before his death, President Lincoln had commissioned him a Brigadier General. Yeager never knew of this honor. Yeagers remains were returned to Allentown and he is among those buried in the Union and West End Cemetery.

The Flag Bearer for this occasion was Gary Weaver, representing the 96th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The Purcell's, a fife and drum corps, led by Kenneth Purcell and accompanied on the fife and drum by his sons, followed Burgess Grim with a program of music and song. The Purcell's closed the ceremony with a rousing and spirited song accompanied by fife and drum.

Medal awarded to First Defenders by the State of Pennsylvania

Salute to the Allen Infantry

2007-08-06T17:36:00.000-04:00

Union & West End Cemetery Association
announces

Salute to the Allen Infantry

Pennsylvania's First Defenders

From the Boro of Allentown

Civil War History
with Re-enactors

Saturday, August 11, 2007
10:00 A.M.
(Rain Date August 18)

Walking Tour with Program ending at the

12th Street Civil War Memorial

Admission Free

An Unusual Happening

2007-08-05T14:19:00.000-04:00

This past week the Union and West End Cemetery had a burial. This is a somewhat unusual event. You might ask; what is so unusual about a cemetery having a burial? Well, for one thing, the cemetery is 153 years old. Most of the lot owners have passed away. In some few instances, descendants have paperwork that support their claim to the lot. But for the most part, the cemetery association board does not know many of the owners of the cemetery lots. There are some 2200 lots in the cemetery each 16' X 16', enough space for ten graves. The association is in contact with only fifty-three lot owners of record.

The burial, this past week, was the first burial for 2007. The only legitimate income that the cemetery produces is burial fees. It is no wonder that the cemetery is a non-profit corporation, operated by volunteers. There are no paid employees, there is no money with which to pay them. The cemetery gets its operational funds from donations and grants, but it is never enough.

The cemetery is maintained by a dozen volunteers and with assistance from the Allentown Community Corrections Center. The incarcerated individuals that are in need of community credit hours give the cemetery three hours a week, three Sundays a month. Their help is greatly appreciated.

Below are photos taken of the recent burial:

Rest In Peace.

A Soldiers Life

2007-07-30T17:28:00.000-04:00

Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. - a battle scarred Civil War veteran - recalled that "War, when your at it, is horrible and dull."

No doubt many old soldiers would have agreed with him. The typical Civil War soldier spent more time battling boredom that he did the enemy. The monotomous drudgery of army life, with its ceaseless round of drills, guard duty, and fatigue details, tested the morale of even the most pattiotic volunteers. One Pennsylvania soldier, in a letter to his family, informed them that soldering was "a very slow business."

Officers encouraged a variety of sporting events as an antidote to boredom and a healthful alternative to the temptations of cards and alcohol. Baseball was a popular pastime. In winter camp snowball fights would somtimes escalate to epic proportions. "It reminds one of a real battle, to see a thousand or two men standing face to face throwing the white balls is truly exciting as well as amusing," claimed one Union recruit.

Many units formed regimental glee clubs to entertain the troops, and amateur theatricals proved so popular that most winter encampments included several theaters. Lacking a female presence, enlisted men would sometimes hold stag dances, with soldiers dressed in women's attire.

The National Historical Society

Photo above: Pvt. Edward Collidge and drummer William Clarke, two members of the Engineer Battalion pose in character for a play they were about to perform. Tickets were sold for 26 cents each.

Irish units in the Army of the Potomac, celebrated St. Patick's Day with a steeplechase, foot and wheelbarrow races, climbing a greased pole, and what one officer described as "running after the soaped pig - to be the prize of the man who holds it."

Library of Congress

Boxing was also a favorite pastime. Soldiers would square off for a bareknuckle boxing match at the drop of a hat. Enthusiasm for boxing grew with the arrival of prominent British professional boxers who immigrated when their sport was outlawed in much of Great Britain shortly before the Civil War.

Courtesy of T. Scott Sanders

Musical emsembles were also popular. Groups similar to the one above helped while away hours in winter encampments and provided accompaniment for amateur theatrical performances and minstrel shows.

Inevitably the time would come to sling knapsacks and shoulder muskets, as the armies prepared for battle. With mingled excitement and apprehension soldiers would abandon their camps and march off to resume the terrible business of war.

Answering the Call

2007-07-20T13:53:00.000-04:00

When President Abraham Lincoln put out the call for 75,000 troops (16 Regiments) to defend the Nations Capital, most people of the North believed that the rebellion would last less than ninety-days. The initial militia units that responded had enlisted the men for only ninety-days. And indeed, the men in those int ital militia units were discharged at the end of their 90-day enlistment and allowed to return home.

Many of the men from those militia units, however, knowing that the Union needed them, reenlisted with nine-month regiments or later on, three-year regiments. Ultimately, the Nation resorted to a draft to fill the ranks.

While the Federal government professed to fight for the preservation of the Republic and sought to restore the Southern states to the Union by force of arms, the South viewed the struggle as a battle for survival. The South felt that they were waging war purely for self-defense.

Over the course of the war, there were dozens of bloody battles, nine of which occur ed in the Eastern theatre and seven of the nine were fought on Virginia soil. And although there were many epic and ferocious battles, the common soldier was not engaged in battle on a sustained basis.

For most of the naive young men lured to war by fifes and drums and patriotic entreaties, the introduction to military service was not the adventure that they anticipated. For all of their dreams of glory, they found themselves to be a small insignificant piece of a mighty army. But they would, in time, begin to learn the ins and outs of soldering, often from an older and wiser comrade who had already "seen the elephant," the soldiers euphemism for the baptism of fire.

Some three million Americans took up arms during the four years of the Civil War, with Northern armies holding more than a 2-to-1 advantage in numbers over their Southern opponents. The Civil War was a young man's war, with 18-year olds composing the largest single age group. The average Yankee recruit was a 25-year old farmer who stood five feet, eight and one-quarter inches tall, weighed 143 pounds and had dark hair, blue eyes, and a light complexion.

Farmers made up 48 percent of the Federal enlistees, mechanics 24 percent, laborers 16 percent with eight percent in commercial or professional pursuits. A fair number of the Federals were foreign born, principally Irish and Germans.

The vast majority of Yankee volunteers were impelled to take up arms not from a hatred of slavery but from a belief in the integrity of the republic. One Pennsylvania officer believed that by vanquishing the militant proponents of states rights, the North would "save to liberty and freedom the life of the best government the world ever saw." Another soldier bidding farewell to his family noted, "I want you to remember that it will be not only for my country and children, but for liberty all over the world that I risked my life; for if liberty should be crushed here, what hope would there be for the cause of human progress anywhere else?"

Many immigrants who had fled oppression and found a better life in America linked their family's future with the preservation of the Union. A civilian in New York upon seeing a militia unit parading down Broadway commented; "There was something thrilling in the thought that these brave young fellows were going to battle bravely for what they believed to be right." And as "the glorious old flag," carried by a stalwart color sergeant, these individual indicated that he " shouted and yelled until I was hoarse. Tears gushed into my eyes and I turned away firmly resolved to defend that flag against any that would raise their hands against it, whether they were my countrymen or not."

Not all volunteers were motivated by patriotism, however, political convictions, or regional pride. Many signed on for the adventure and the chance to travel. They sought relief from the stifling routine of civil life. Many enthusiastic volunteers feared that the fighting would be over before they arrived. Even before the first tentative forays were made against the enemy, the troops began to realize they had yet to learn of the ways of soldering. They quickly learned that the great cumbersome knapsack, heavily loaded with everything they thought a soldier might need, soon became a thing of the past. Sweltering in wool uniforms as they trudged down dusty roads, the soldiers cast aside all but the bare necessities, and the waysides were strewn with surplus clothing, shoes, blankets, and family keepsakes.

The first battles of the war made it clear to all that victory would never be won by troops whose enthusiasm failed to disguise the fact that they were little more than armed mobs.

Accepting the grim realities of a protracted and costly struggle, the Union and Confederacy strengthened their forces with hundreds of new regiments and in most cases mandated at least a three-year term of enlistment. Discipline was tightened, punishment was meted out for even the most minor infractions of military decorum, and officers began to put their companies and regiments through a seemingly endless round of drill.

One Union soldier grumbled to a companion, "They give us drill for breakfast, drill for dinner, drill for supper, and roll call for sleep at night." Another of his comrades, full of fight when he enlisted, was inclined to agree with his comrade. "It is enough to take the enthusiasm out of any young man to wait for two or three months cooped up in some small camp ground, fed on the coarsest of food, and drilled to death." He further declared himself "sick and tired of the monotony of the life we are leading," and professed his impatience "to be about the business for which I left home and friends."

Winter Camp

Art by Paul Salmon; The painting depicts a typical winter camp for a Federal regiment.

Andersonville Prison

2007-06-29T20:27:00.000-04:00

Anderson Station was a small depot stop on the rail line running through south Georgia. In 1864, it was situated a few miles northeast of the village of Americus and the surrounding country side was populated primarily by once successful farmers and plantations owners. However, the Civil War had taken its toll and by 1864 most of the occupants of the land were struggling to put sufficient food on the table to provide for their immediate family and their few remaining slaves. Many of the slaves had been sold off as there was insufficient food supplies to feed them all.

It was this small rural community that the Confederate States Army selected to build a prison to house Union soldiers that had been captured in battle. Once Union General Ulysses S. Grant became commander of all Northern forces, he ceased the practice of exchanging captured soldiers, thus creating the need in the North and the South for additional prisons to house prisoners of war. Anderson Station was far enough south to avoid raids from Northern Cavalry units and was situated conveniently on a rail line and it had adequate timber and a small source of water.

The prison camp received the official name of Camp Sumter, being situated, as it were, in Sumter County, Georgia. However, both the Confederate soldiers (Alabama and Georgia Reserve units) assigned as guards and the Union soldiers that were subsequently imprisoned there, referred to it as Andersonville, thus making a clear distinction between the depot and the prison. Anderson Station had been named originally for John Anderson of Savannah, Georgia.

The prison was designed as a open stockade enclosed by a stockade fence made from pine trees that had once occupied some of the land. These upright tree trunks stood fifteen feet above the ground with an additional five feet underground. The stockade enclosed approximately 16 ½ acres and it was designed to hold about 10,000 prisoners. Although the prison was not entirely complete, on February 24, 1864, a train with cattle cars holding captured Union sldiers rolled into Anderson Station at about nine in the evening. Bonfires were lit to provide light for the movement of the captured enemy soldiers from the rail cars to the stockade.

The initial inmates of Camp Sumter, or Andersonville as it would soon be known, were transported from Belle Isle, an overcrowded prison in North Carolina, to become the first residents of Andersonville. Although 600 left Belle Isle, only 591 prisoners arrived at Andersonville. 9 other prisoners either died from some ailment or were shot by the guards while attempting to escape.

Two days later, another 600 arrived. Trains continued to arrive on a daily basis adding to the retched humanity that inhabited Andersonville. In June of 1864 the stockade was enlarged to a compound comprising 26 ½ acres and the population continued to grow. At the time that the enclosure was enlarged it held over 22,000 prisoners crowded together in an open and unprotected area. Their was no shelter other than what the prisoners could provide from items that were brought in with them.

Many would wonder why the prisoners were not provided shelter in the form of barracks. It was never the intent of the Confederates in charge of constructing the prison to build any type of shelter to protect the prisoners from the elements, be it days on end cold or rain or later, the scorching sun. The inmates built what ever shelter they could provide from their meager belongings. For the most part, all that could be provided were blankets, a few overcoats and some tarps and with these a number of men could build and occupy a shebang (a two or three sided tent like covering with a roof of clothing, blankets or pine branches). A shebang afforded some meager protection for its occupants. Some shebangs held one, two or four men. Some were larger still and could hold more. The larger tents were generally opccupied by 'raiders' who prayed on other less fortunate souls.

It is believed that the first to die inside of the stockade was one, J. H. Swarner of the Second New York Cavalry. He was sick and feverish upon arrival and soon expired, alone and longing for home. He might have been the first to die inside the prison walls, but he surely would not be the last.

At one time, Andersonville held 32,000 Union prisoners, living meager existences in deplorable circumstances. Before the prison closed in May 1865, almost 13,000 would die from exposure, malnutrition, disease, or were shot attempting to escape, or perhaps they just wandered too close to the deadline. At one time, the dead were dropping at the rate of several hundreds a day. The men that died were buried on a hill just outside the stockade. At least one woman was discovered when she expired and the men stipped her of her clothes. Taking the clothes and other personal effects of the dead was a common practice, the living stating that the dead no longer had need of such things.

This atrocious overcrowding quickly led to health and nutritional conditions that resulted in 12,912 deaths by war's end in May 1865. The prison guards, composed mostly of older men and boys, watched from sentry boxes (called "pigeon roosts" by the prisoners) perched atop the stockade and shot any prisoner who crossed a wooden railing, called the "deadline."

Handicapped by deteriorating economic conditions, the Confederates lacked the necessary materials and amounts of food for 10,000 prisoners, not to mention the 26,000 that were confined there by June 1864. Available shelter was deduced to crude shelters huts of made scrap wood, tent fragments, or simple holes dug in the ground. Many had no shelter of any kind against the elements of rain, heat, and cold. No clothing was provided, and many prisoners were left with rags or nothing at all.

The raiders of the camp had the largest and most elaborate huts, having acquired material from inmates or newly arrived prisoners, taking what they wanted by force. Generally every prison had its share of raiders who simply stole what they wanted, needed or simply things that they desired. U.S. greenbacks were the most sought after of all commodities.

In July of 1864, the raiders had become so bold as to raid, steal and plunder in broad daylight. There was little that new prisoners could do to protect themselves upon entering the stockade. The raiders would swoop down on them before they knew what was happening and stripped them of their belongings, including the very clothes off their backs. The seasoned veterans of the stockade could only stand by and watch the carnage. That is until a few hardy, intelligent men realized that a concerted effort had to be made to deal with the wicked devils.

A group of "Regulators" began to meet in secret to plan how best to deal with the threat hanging over their heads. When they had amassed a group of stout, strong men they approached Captain Wirtz, the prison commadant for assistance with obtaining clubs, which were needed to subdue the raiders. Word soon leaked out that the small group was planning an attempt to dethrown the raiders, but the raiders were unconcerned as they thought themselves invincible. The clubs were supplied by the Confederates as they understood that allowing the inmates to settle the issue among themselves would, if succesful, provide a more orderly enviornment for all.

The regulators successfully overpowered the raiders and brought them to trial. Six of the leaders would be hung from a scaffold built inside the stockade for that purpose. Other lesser criminals would be punished in the stocks or on chain gangs.

From that point forward, the inmates were no longer bothered by marauding gangs of thieve, but otherwise, their situation did not improve measurably.

Prison diets consisted of pickled beef, salt pork, corn meal, rice, or bean soup. The lack of fruits or vegetables often led to outbreaks of scurvy and other diseases. Starvation and poor sanitation inflamed outbreaks of diseases like smallpox, typhoid, dysentery, cholera, and malaria. Sores, left untreated, led to gangrene—a disease curable only by amputation. Of all these diseases, perhaps the most dangerous was depression. "A good number of the prisoners became catatonic and most realized it was all over when they reached this state. Prisoners often wasted away. Some elected for suicide, taunting guards to shoot them or intentionally crossing the dead line.

As General Sherman was making his march to the sea, an attempt was made to secure the release of the prisoners housed at Andersonville. Note the following, Taken from Gen. Grant's Memoirs:

Andersonville - Atlanta Campaign Sherman
"In the latter part of July Sherman sent Stoneman to destroy the railroads to the south, about Macon. He was then to go east and, if possible, release our prisoners about Andersonville. There were painful stories current at the time about the great hardships these prisoners had to endure in the way of general bad treatment, in the way in which they were housed, and in the way in which they were fed. Great sympathy was felt for them; and it was thought that even if they could be turned loose upon the country it would be a great relief to them. But the attempt proved a failure. McCook, who commanded a small brigade, was first reported to have been captured; but he got back, having inflicted a good deal of damage upon the enemy. He had also taken some prisoners; but encountering afterwards a largely superior force of the enemy he was obliged to drop his prisoners and get back as best he could with what men he had left. He had lost several hundred men out of his small command. On the 4th of August Colonel Adams, commanding a little brigade of about a thousand men, returned reporting Stoneman and all but himself as lost. I myself had heard around Richmond of the capture of Stoneman, and had sent Sherman word, which he received. The rumor was confirmed there, also, from other sources. A few days after Colonel Adams's return Colonel Capron also got in with a small detachment and confirmed the report of the capture of Stoneman with something less than a thousand men.
It seems that Stoneman, finding the escape of all his force was impossible, had made arrangements for the escape of two divisions. He covered the movement of these divisions to the rear with a force of about seven hundred men, and at length surrendered himself and this detachment to the commanding Confederate. In this raid, however, much damage was inflicted upon the enemy by the destruction of cars, locomotives, army wagons, manufactories of military supplies, etc."

"On the 4th and 5th Sherman endeavored to get upon the railroad to our right, where Schofield was in command, but these attempts failed utterly. General Palmer was charged with being the cause of this failure, to a great extent, by both General Sherman and General Schofield; but I am not prepared to say this, although a question seems to have arisen with Palmer as to whether Schofield had any right to command him. If he did raise this question while an action was going on, that act alone was exceedingly reprehensible."

In the spring of 1865, on orders issued by Confederate Prison Management, the remaining Officers in charge of Andersonville prison began to move prisoners that had mobility to smaller prisons scattered throughpout the Carolinas. Essentially, the only prisoners left behind at Andersonville were those that were ill, inferm and unable to support themselves. Without the assistance of more abled bodied mates to take care of them, many did not survive. There were indufficient able men left to carry the frail bodies to the gate for treatment at the infirmary. Finally, in May, 1865, the remaining men were liberated and the doors of Andersonville closed.

Sherman's advance on Atlanta

2007-06-21T20:34:00.000-04:00

When Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant was made commander-in-chief of all Union forces in the field in March 1864, he appointed Major General William T. Sherman to take over his forces in the west (today we refer to it as the deep s=South). The aim was to continue the successful drive against the Confederacy, following the capture of Chattanooge in November 1863. Sherman's key stratgic objective was the second most important city of the Confederacy, Atlanta, Georgia.

Sherman had a massive force of approximately 110,000 men under his command, comprising three armies: the Armu of the Cumberland (60,000), Army of Tennessee (30,000), and the Army of the Ohio (17,000). Although the Confederates numbered only 45,000, they were in a strong defensive position, occupying Rocky Face Ridge, near Dalton, commanding the surrounding mountainous terrain and deep river valleys that Sherman would have to traverse to reach Atlanta.

On My 4th, Sherman began to move his troops south from Chattanooga. His intentions were to hold the Rebels at Rocky Face Ridge using the Army of the Cumberland. Meanwhile he would move the Army of Tennessee around the Confederate flank to Resaca. This action would, if properly executed, cut off the Confederate supply lines and force them to retreat to Atlanta.

But the Union force upon arriving at Resaca, on the 9th of May, found a larger Confederate force than anticipated. General Johnston upon hearing that the Union forces had moved to his rear, immediately concentrated his entire force at Resaca. An additional Rebel force of 60,000 was also redeployed to Resaca.

Sherman attacked Resaca over the next three days although the battle was inconclusive. The Confederate force pulled back to Adairsville. An attempt by the Union troops to outflank the Confederate defenses caused the Confederates to pull back to Cassville.

Inconclusive battles ensued in the general area for a period of four days at New Hope Church, Pumpkin Vine Creek, Pine Knob, Lost Mountain and Kennesaw Mountain. In the various battles the Forty-sixth Pennsylvania Infantry, with men from the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, lost fourteen killed and thirty wounded. Then came Peach Tree Creek where the Forty-sixth was exposed and suffered severely.

The One Hundred Forty-Seventh Pennsylvania, with troops from Allentown and the Lehigh Valley area, was also engaged in all of the afore mentioned battles and skimishes. But it was at Peach Tree Creek where it endured the heaviest fighting. The regiment withstood a constant battering. The Rebels were relentless in their attack upon the One Hundred forty-seventh Pennsylvania's position. One Union officer stated: "I have seen most of the battle-fields in the Southwest, but nowhere have I seen traces of more deadly work..."

The Union forces continued in their attempt to move around the Confederate left flank, but they were blocked at Kenensaw Mountain. The Union forces attempted a frontal assault but lost 2 to 3,000 men in the battle compared to the loss of only 500 Rebels. Sherman then ordered the Union troops to make a move around the right flank of the enemy forcing the Confederates to pull back into the Atlanta fortifications. On July 17, President Davis removed General Johnston from command in what he regarded as exceesive caution on General Joseph E. Johnston's part. Johnston was replaced with General John B. Hood.

The battle for Atlanta was fierce and prolonged, but Atlanta, in flames, fell to Sherman's forces on September 1, 1864.

Ironton Elementary School Students

2007-06-04T13:10:00.000-04:00

On May 31st, the fifth grade class of the Ironton Elementary School visited the Union and West End Cemetery in furtherance of their studies on the American Civil War.

Following a brief presentation on the history of the cemetery, the students assignment was to scourer the cemetery in an effort to complete a "Cemetery Scavenger Hunt". The first item on the assignment called for each student to locate a grave of a Civil War Veteran and to make a tracing of the veterans headstone. It was not difficult to locate a veterans grave. Those of you that are familiar with the cemetery are aware that there are 714 Union Veterans buried in the Union and West End Cemetery and of course, every grave is decorated with the nation's flag.

After completing the tracing, the students scattered throughout the cemetery to complete the remaining items on their "Cemetery Scavenger Hunt" worksheet. The worksheet contained ten additional items that had to be located. Item number eleven had ten-parts to it; requiring the students to find the date of death of some of the more notable veterans.

Cemetery Historian, Janet Hagenauer was on hand to lend her expertise and knowledge to any students that needed some guidance in locating someone on the scavenger hunt list. She usually had a line of kids waiting for her advice.

The "Cemetery Scavenger Hunt" worksheet can be viewed here:

Memorial Day - May 30th

2007-06-01T16:55:00.000-04:00

On May 30, the traditional Memorial Day, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 190, Allentown, Pennsylvania, held Memorial Day ceremonies in the Union and West End Cemetery.

Among those that came to the cemetery to observe the ceremony and to honor the soldiers who sacraficed all in a foreign war, was the second grade students from McKinley Elementary School in Allentown.

Photographs from this annual event are shown below:

For more on the Military Order of the Purple Heart, visit Chapter 190's web site:

Chapter 190 - MOPH

Memorial Day 2007

2007-05-27T10:30:00.000-04:00

MEMORIAL DAY SERVICES

Military Order of the Purple Heart
Chapter 190

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

10:00 a.m.
Union and West End Cemetery

10th & Chew Streets

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Initially, the Memorial Day holiday was on May 30th but this was changed to the last Monday in May, to ensure a three day weekend, by an act of Congress. This fact alone has most likely done more than anything else to create the apathy that surrounds the holiday.

The exact beginning of the tradition of a day to remember fallen soldiers is lost to history. It is known that on April 25, 1866 a group of ladies in Columbus, Mississippi visited a cemetery to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers who had fallen in battle at the Battle of Shiloh. The ladies, disturbed by the sight of the bare graves of fallen Union soldiers, also placed followers on their graves as well, even though they were considered the enemy.

But the origin of Memorial Day is not important. Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery, Alexandria, Virginia.

Following World War I the holiday was changed to recognize all war dead, not just those that died while fighting in the Civil War. The Memorial Day Holiday now celebrates and honors all those that died while fighting in any of the wars in which they have been asked to serve.

It should be kept in mind that this holiday does not recognize any and all veterans as many think, but it specifically honors those that have fallen in the service of our country. Veterans Day, (November 11th) which is a totally separate holiday, is celebrated to honor the memory of all veterans.

Unfortunately, today few remember the true purpose of this solemn and sacred occasion. It is not about picnics and backyard cookouts, it is a day to remember, honor and show respect to those fallen heroes that gave their lives so that this nation could remain free.

Suttler's Row

2007-05-26T18:35:00.000-04:00

My favorite place to go while attending a reenactment event is "Sutler's Row." The books and trinkets that can be found there make the trip worthwhile in itself, not to mention the kettle corn and sarsaparilla.

The "real" sutler provided the soldier with far different comforts. The Civil War era sutler was a civilian merchant, licensed by the government to travel with and sell specific items to soldiers. The word 'sutler' comes from the early modern Dutch, word "soeteler" meaning "small tradesman," according to "Barnhart's "Dictionary of Etymology."

The sutler has been around in one form or another from the beginnings of organized warfare, primarily as a camp follower prior to the 1700's. During the American Civil War, Federal army regulations permitted the appointment of one sutler to each regiment. The regimental commander most often selected the unit's sutler, sometimes a hometown merchant, while others were licensed through political appointment.

The practices of the sutler were controlled by military regulations, and during the Civil War, included the prohibition of the sale of alcohol and the controlling of business hours. (During the American Revolution, General Washington had allowed one sutler per brigade to sell liquor at a fixed rate.)

Many Civil War regiments failed to enforce the regulations on a sutler's prices, as well as the liquor prohibition. Of 200 units inspected by the U. S. Sanitary Commission in 1861, 182 of them had a sutler. Garrison posts, prison camps and hospitals also were provided the benefit of the sutlers service.

The Confederate soldier doing business with prison sutlers often had this as their only contact with a sutler. Although authorized by the Confederate Congress, aside from an occasional wagon selling one or two items, (often only cider), Confederate sutlers were rare. In the Union camps, sutlers most often established themselves in large canvas tents. For security, the merchant usually slept inside with his goods. The sutler's goods included many items with which to supplement a rather bland soldier diet. Fruit, vegetables flour, sweets, were available, but often at prices only officers could afford.

The contents of the infamous "sutler's pie," usually 25 cents, became a subject of debate for years after the war "...moist and indigestible below, tough and indestructible above, with untold horrors within," writes John Billings in "Hardtack & Coffee."

Much needed stationary, pencils, paper, pipes, tobacco, playing cards, reading material and hundreds of other items were also available. Army regulation items such as socks, boots, and hats were also sold. A good many of the purchases the men made were on credit. The sutler would have a soldier sign a paymaster's order. This was a check made out to the sutler that authorized the paymaster to pay the sutler the value of the voucher directly. When the paymaster visited a regiment, the sutler had a seat right next to the paymaster where a good portion of a soldiers pay was turned right over to the merchant. Regulations called for the amount not to exceed one third of a soldier pay for a month, without the consent of the commanding officer, but many regiments did not follow these regulations, perhaps to avoid more paperwork.

The soldier was often given sutlers tokens in exchange for their voucher, eliminating the need for record keeping of purchases on credit, and guaranteeing the sutler would not lose money if a soldier were killed before payday. These imprinted metal tokens also insured that the soldier would do business only with his regimental sutler. Unscrupulous sutlers also used tokens for further profit, claiming not to have any change when tokens were used.

Reliable estimates indicates that the average Union soldier spent about $3.85 per month at the sutler and that the total gross earnings of Civil War sutlers exceeded 10 million dollars per year.

Next time you are at a reenactment, and you go down "sutlers row," you might think of them as something a little bit more than just refreshment and souvenir stands. For better or worse, they really were an important part of the common soldiers everyday life.

For some interesting reading on the subject, look for "Peddlers and Post Traders," by David M. Delo. There are also sections on sutlers that can be found in John Billing's "Hardtack & Coffee" and Bell Wiley's "The Life of Billy Yank."

The above article on 'Sutlers Row' was written by Dave Gorski; Dave is a talented and knowledgeable individual on the Civil War. The article is posted here with Dave's permission.

The Siege of Petersburg

2007-05-21T14:53:00.000-04:00

After ten days at Cold Harbor, Grant tried a new stratagem. He broke contact with Lee's forces and, behind a cavalry screen, marched across the Peninsula east of Richmond and crossed the James River. His goal was Petersburg, twenty miles south of Richmond. Petersburg was important as all but one rail line to the Confederate capital passed through Petersburg. If Petersburg could be taken and the other rail line cut, then both Richmond and General Lee's army would be without food or supplies.

The initial vanguard of Union troops reached Petersburg on June 15, which was fortified by only 2,200 men. The Union forces failed to attack, awaiting additional reinforcements. Even though reinforcements arrived, the attack was delayed. This gave the Confederates time to reinforce the garrison and Lee's army arrived on the scene before a Union attack was launched. An opportunity lost and nothing left to do but lay siege to Petersburg.

The Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac were of vastly different composition now. More than a third of Lee's general officers had been lost to him since the beginning of the campaign and several of his most important units had been devastated. In Grant's force a staggering 60 percent of the men who had crossed the Rapidan were casualties. He had virtually a new army.

Soldiers settled into a routine; trenches were deepened and strengthened. Ditches and other obstacles were placed between the lines as insurance against surprise attacks. Most of the time the men performed their duties in a kind of stupor. A steady stream of casualties sapped each army--men who were killed and maimed to no particular purpose or advantage. Sickness, desertion, and battle fatigue took their toll.

The 48th Pennsylvania held a section of the line just 130 yards from the Confederate trenches. The 48th, from the coal regions, contained many men who had been coal miners. The Colonel in charge, Henry Pleasants, was a mining engineer. He persuaded high command to let him try to place a mine under the Confederate lines.

The Crater, by John Elder

Within a month a tunnel had been dug. They then laid in four tons of powder at the end of the tunnel. A Union attack was feinted toward Richmond which drew most of the Rebels away from the mined section. The explosion went off at 4:45 a.m. and a 500 yard gap opened in the center of the Confederate lines. But the Union soldiers were not prepared to take advantage of the breach. They trickled into the gap to gawk at the carnage and the Rebels seized the opportunity to counter attack and to zero in the artillery on the crater. It became a cauldron of hell. The line was repaired by 1 p.m. that very afternoon. And the routine of trench warfare resumed.

As Autumn approached, the armies prepared for the ordeal of winter in the trenches, the Confederates with increasing concern, the Federals with confidence born of their obvious strength. Grant had an immense supply depot at City Point. Supplies poured ashore from transports and barges. In Lee's trenches an officer wrote home, "It is hard to maintain patriotism on ashcake and water."

City Point by E. L. Henry

Cold Harbor

2007-05-14T16:05:00.000-04:00

"Blue-Grey", Painting by Mort Kunstler

After the Battle of the Wilderness that began his campaign against Lee, Grant had written dediantly to Washington, "I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all Summer."

Although General Ulysses S. Grant had admitted defeat at the protracted Battle of Spotsylvania, he continued to move the Army of the Potomac south into Virginia in his campaign of attrition against General Rober E. Lee;s Army of Northern Virginia. General Grant intended to outflank Lee, cutting him off from Richmond, the Confederate Capital.

In his efforts to block Grant's advance, Lee was being driven back towards Richmond. On May 30, Grant moved his army toward the vital road junction at Old Cold Harbor, a locality in Hanover county, Va., originally known as Cool Arbor, sending cavalry units ahead. Lee anticipated the move and had dispatched his own cavalry to the crossroads.

On June 1, 1864, the Federals found the Army of Northern Virginia well entrenched at Cold Harbor. Grant was determined to send his army, full strength, into those enemy breastworks and get it over with once and for all. It was the most disastrous decision he ever made.

Because of the swampy ground of the Chickhominy River which was to his left, Grant chose a frontal assault on the entrenched Rebel force. On June 3, the attack was launched along a 2-mile front. It was a massive charge, 60,000 men from three Corps. The Confederates entrenched as they were had prepared interlocking fields of fire and the Union infantry was slaughtered. Within a matter of minutes, 7 to 8,000 Union soldiers were lost and Grant was forced to abandon the attack.

One Southern officer, a colonel, noted that; "...the dead covered more than 5 acres of ground about as thick as they could be laid."

Some skirmishing continued at Cold Harbor for some days, but Grant realized he would have to continue the flanking attacks. This time, he moved south of Richmond towards Peterburg.

In his memoirs, Grant would later write of that day at Cold Harbor. "I regret this assault more than any one I heave ever ordered." He added, accurately enough, "No advantage whatsoever was gained from the heavy loss we sustained."

A Virtual Tour of a Portion of the Cemetery

2007-05-05T21:17:00.000-04:00

Time to view a few of the headstones in the Union and West End Cemetery. All of these stones are in the section known as Section N'. It is at the lower end of the West end portion of the cemetery, nearest Liberty Street.

Spring Has Finally Arrived!

2007-05-03T23:42:00.000-04:00

There is no doubt that spring has arrived, finally. The April showers were plentiful and the grass has been growing, green, beautiful, higher than expected. It was long awaited, then it was too much, too fast. But that is the way it always happens. You wait for it, you pray for it, and it seems to take forever before it appears, but then one day, there it is...spring! Blessed spring! We love it, we glory in it, but with spring comes rain, sunshine and more rain. The grass begins to grow and that is a signal that it is time to tune up the lawn cutting equipment, put new oil filters on the machines, put in new oil and get the equipment, such that it is, ready for another summer of grass cutting.

Invariably, it always gets a jump on us. The rains come, the grass grows and it is too wet to go into the cemetery and begin the seasonal process of cutting the grass. So we begin another grass cutting season, behind, trying to catch up, to get on top. It is always a struggle. So much grass, so little time. And, as I have stated before, you get the cemetery looking good and it only last for a week; one week and then it begins again. There never is time for a break. If you take a break, you fall behind. When you fall behind, it is much more difficult.

Twenty acres of grass. Well, perhaps a little less, after all, some of that space is taken up by tombstones. Tombstones are a necessary part of any cemetery, but do they have to be so close together? Do they have to be so big? Why are they out of alignment? It would be so much better if they were in a perfect row. How did they get so out of order? Oh, Yea!...The cemetery is 153 years old. Guess in that time frame stuff happens. Can you imagine how many times a particular plot has been cut again and again over the past 153 years? It boggles the mind. How many times was a stone accidentally bumped or nudged? Guess it is not so hard to figure out what happened to cause the stones to be out of alignment after all.

Then, of course, the cement drys out between the base of the stone and the upright portion and wind, time, gravity, vandalism; something causes the stone to topple. That stone becomes an obstacle in the otherwise passable row. This creates all kinds of problems and radical maneuvering with the riding lawn mower. And then, as noted, there is the eternal problem of vandalism. For some unexplained reason, vandals seem to delight in toppling stones. Perhaps for the shear joy of knowing that they created a problem for someone else. How dare they have more than I can acquire. Life is not fair so I will topple this stone to prove that I have power to do harm. If I can not have the good things that others have, I will destroy things that have meaning to them. Serves them right! Who knows what goes through their heads, what motivates them? It is so senseless, so damaging, so evasive, so destructive, so criminal.

Riding lawn mowers? Oh yes, for the most part we use riding lawn mowers to cut the cemetery. Push mowers are used only to trim and to cut areas that can not be gotten to by the larger riding mowers. But even with riding mowers, it is a difficult, time consuming task.

Then there is the trimming around the stones. This is accomplished by the tedious task of operating a weed whacker. For the most part this is left to the Allentown Community Correctional Center personnel that come into the cemetery every three weeks for three hours to assist us. There contribution is very much appreciated. In addition to weed whacking, the ACCC personnel muscle stones back up on their foundations and a few are put on lawn mowers to assist with areas that have not been adopted by a volunteer. It is a help, but it is not near enough. The cemetery association needs more help from volunteers like Bob Engler, that are willing to make a commitment and are willing to live by that commitment.

Speaking of volunteers...this is always a difficult subject; It has proven extremely difficult to find good, hard working volunteers to assist with the work of cutting grass and maintaining the cemetery. It is hard work, but rewarding work and there is always more to be done, but with an adequate supply of willing volunteers, the work would go much quicker and easier for all. Most of the cemetery directors have adopted a full section, consisting of 1.3 acres. There are a few other dedicated volunteers that show up more or less on a regular basis, but not near enough or often enough. As a result, some of the directors do more than 1.3 acres and spend many hours each and every week in the cemetery desperately trying to maintain and present the historical cemetery in a manner that is both respectful to the 20,000 dear souls that are interred there, but also to present to the general public, that passes daily, a cemetery that the citizens and neighbors surrounding the cemetery can be proud of.

Yes, it is a difficult task, but for the volunteers that devote their time and talents to the cemetery, it is a rewarding experience. Spend a little time in our cemetery, walk among the dead, and if it doesn't have a live changing effect on you, if you are not somehow changed by the experience, then there must be something wrong with you.

We need your help! Visit the cemetery and experience it for yourself. Then stop and consider, "If Not Me, Then Who?"

Spotsylvania

2007-04-23T13:07:00.000-04:00

Dawn of 8 May 1864 found the advance units of the Army of the Potomac en route to Richmond, circling Lee;s Army of Northern Virginia. At the road between Todd's Tavern and Sptsylvania the yankees were astonished to find a line of Confederates waiting for them. The day before, as Grant had ordered his army on the march after the Battle of the Wilderness, Lee had told one of his officers, "Grant is not going to retreat. He will move his army to Spotsylvania. I am so sure of his next move that I have already made arrangements...to meet him there."

Shooting broke out briefly when the Federals reached Spotsylvania, but the Federals were so tired from double-time marching that they could scarcely do more than stumble toward the Confederate line. That night and next day, both armies built strong breastworks—usually a stack of logs with a 'head log' at the top, leavig space beneath to shoot through. There was only light skirmishing on 10 May, but men still died.

Lee's lines followed the shape of a large, irregular crescent. In the middle was a bulging salient the soldiers cubbed the 'mule shoe'; history woold remeber it as "Bloody Angle," for a sharp turn in the line.

As dusk approached, Colonel Emory Upton convinced Grant to let him take a crack at the salient. Grant gave him a brigade, with which Upton set out at a dead run toward the salient. A spearhead of Federals drove right through a rain of bullets and leapt over the breastworks, some of them pitching in their bayoneted rifles like harpoons; Upton had broken through the very center of the Confederate line. All he needed was some reinforcements which were already on their way. But a wall of Southern artillery turned back the reinforcements and Upton had to fall back with heavy losses. He did however, bring a thousand prisoners with him. This manuver convinced Grant that the salient was vulnerable. "A brigade today—we'll try a corps tomorrow," he said.

Heavy rains on the 11th prevented any action of consequence. The morning of 12 May was drizzly and foggy. The guns which protected the center had been moved to the right of the Confederate line, with a promise that they would be back by morning, but the guns had not arrived. Only 5,000 rebs were all that held the center of the line. The silence was broken by cheering in the distance, when out of the fog rolled 20,000 Federals, the entire II corps. There was no stopping them, the yankees flowed right over the breastworks. Lee sent reinforcements to the center and the counterattack fell onto the disorganized Federals like a thunderclap, driving them back over the breastworks, and there the Yankees stayed.

The battle near the "angle" was probably the most desparate engagement in the history of modern warfare, and presented features that were absolutely appalling. It was primarily a savage hand to hand fight across the breastworks. Rank after rank was riddled with shot and shell and bayonet-thrusts, and finally sank, a mass of torn and mutilated corpses; then fresh troops rushed madly forward to replace the dead, and so the murderous work went on and on. Even the darkness of night and the pitiless storm failed to stop the fierce contest, and the deadly strife did not cease till well after midnight.

If courage were all that a nation required, there was courage enough at Spottsylvania, on either side of the entrenchments, to have made a nation of every State in the Union.

Chaplain Alanson A. Haines of the Fifteenth New Jersey Regiment stated: With Dr. Hall our good and brave surgeon, I found a place in the rear, a little hollow with grass and a spring of water, where we made hasty preparations to receive the coming wounded. Those that could walk soon began to find their way in of themselves, and some few were helped in by their comrades as soon as the charge was over and a protion withdrawn. It was a terrible thing to lay some of our best and truest men in a long row on the blankets, waiting their turn for the surgeon's care. Some came with body wounds and arms shattered, and hands dangling. At ten o'clock, with the drum corps, I sought the regiment to take off any of our woundd we could gind. On my way, met some men carrying Orderly-Sergeant Van Gilder, mortally wounded, in a blanket. With his hand all blood, he seized mine, saying, 'Chaplain, I am going. Tell my wife I am happy.' At two o'clock a.m. I lay down amid a great throng of poor, bleeding sufferers, whose moans and cries for water kept me awake..."

Early the next morning, the Confederates pulled back to a new line, and the Union forces claimed the breastworks with its heaps of dead and wounded. More than 7,000 Yankee soldiers had fallen, and probably as many as 10,000 Rebels.

Skirmishing and maneuvering continued at Spotsylvania for another seven days. Then on 19 May, Grant once again attempted to move his army around the Confederate flank toward Richmond. And again, Lee raced to stop the Army of the Potomac.

Tree Explodes during Nor'easter

2007-04-20T09:35:00.000-04:00

On Sunday April 16, Allentown experienced the destructive effects of a Nor'easter. One of the trees that was scheduled to be brought down for Arbor Day didn't wait. It literally exploded. Although much of the base of the tree is still standing, the upper part of the tree which had split into several different sections, came tumbling down, more or less. Two large portions fell heavily into Section M' of the West End portion of the cemetery, near twelfth street. Another portion fell in the opposite direction and would have been on the ground in Section L', but it got hung up in a tree across the road, creating a dangerous situation, as it was attached to the trunk by a sliver of bark.

A call went out to the Allentown Parks Department for assistance. The Parks Dept. had their own problems with trees throughout the park system, but they promised to bring the hanging limb down to the ground. Clean up will have to wait until next week.

Phtographs of the tree are shown below:

About five headstones were knocked off their pedestals, but were otherwise not damaged. These will be replaced once the tree is removed.

The Wilderness Campaign

2007-04-17T12:44:00.000-04:00

Earlier in 1864, Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant had been placed in command of all Union Armies by President Lincoln. Grant planned a direct attack on General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. He intended to” fight it out along this line if it takes all summer.” The argument has been made that Grant had no strategy, other than to utilize the superior military might of the Union forces to eventually wear down the Confederates. Grant was aware that a large number of the three year troops who enlisted in 1861 were due to leave his army at the expiration of service, and it appears he wanted to get all the use out of them that he could.

Grant planned to use Major General George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac, which woulde be coordinated with advances by Major General Franz Sigel along the Shenandoah Valley and Benjamin F. Butler on the Yorktown Penisula to divert Lee's attention. Grant would travel with Meade, but Meade would retain nominal command of the army. Meade's troops had been camped on the Northern bank of the Rapidan River in Virginia since Meade's unsuccessful foray south towards Lee's army in November of 1863.

At 4:00 A.M. on May 4, 1863 the Union army crossed the Rapidan and headed towards the heavily wooded area known as the Wilderness, where the Battle of Chancellorsville had been fought the previous year. Near dawn on May 4,1864, the leading division of the Army of the Potomac reached Germanna Ford, 18 miles west of Fredericksburg. The spring campaign was under way and it superficially mirrored the strategic situation prior to the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. A numerically superior Union force (100,000 men), well-supplied, in good spirits, and led by a new commander, moved south toward the Confederate capital. There, however, the similarities ended.

Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (Library of Congress)

Ulysses S. Grant now directed the Army of the Potomac, although George Meade technically retained the authority he had inherited from Hooker just before the Battle of Gettysburg. Grant now carried the new rank of lieutenant-General and bore responsibility for all Federal armies. The General-in-chief told Meade, "Lee's army will be your objective. Where he goes, there you will go also."

The Confederates also entered the 1864 campaign brimming with optimism and anxious to avenge their defeat at Gettysburg. As usual, the 62,000-man Army of Northern Virginia found itself vastly outgunned and scrambling for supplies, but based on past experience, these handicaps posed little concern. Confederate generalship in the post-Jackson era created more serious problems. Lee elevated both A. P. Hill and Richard S. Ewell to corps command following "Stonewall's" death, but neither officer performed particularly well. Only Longstreet provided Lee with experienced leadership at the highest army level.

Gen. Robert E. Lee © Mort Kunstler

The entrenched Confederate forces easily spotted the Federal advance from their signal stations and alerted General Lee. Lee planned to attack Grant in the Wilderness, hoping to take advantage of the difficulties of visibility and movement in the dense brush and thus, to nullify the disparity in mumbers.

Grant, although anxious to confront Lee at the earliest good opportunity, preferred not to fight in the green hell of the Wilderness. On the morning of May 5, he directed his columns to push southeast through the tangled jungle and into open ground. Word arrived, however, that an unidentified body of Confederates approaching from the west on the Turnpike threatened the security of his advance.

"The Wilderness"

Four Confederate brigades crept astride the Union left flank. The Southerners poured through the woods, rolling up unwary Federal troops "like a wet blanket." The fighting soon became a melee, the gunsmoke in the impenetrable underbrush reducing visibility still further. The fighting intensified as Grant and Lee threw more reinforcements into the battle. Patches of the woods were set ablaze by the gunfire and many of the fallen wounded burned to death. The fighting continued until nightfall, and then the two armies established their positions along the five mile front to await daylight.

Fire consumes wounded in the Wilderness

Fighting along the Turnpike on May 6 was also vicious if indecisive. The Union forces struck at the center of the Confederate line, but reinforcements arrived and the Union troops were driven back. Lee sensing that the battle was turning his way, and sent additional troops into the fight, but the Federals held their position until the attack ground to a halt and the battle died out as night fell. Both sides had suffered heavy casualties, but neither side retreated.

Both armies expected more combat on May 7, but neither side initiated hostilities. The Battle of the Wilderness marked another tactical Confederate victory. Grant watched both of his flanks crumble on May 6 and lost more than twice as many soldiers (about 18,000 to 8,000) as did Lee. Veterans of the Army of the Potomac had seen this before: cross the river, get whipped, retreat -- the story of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville reprised. But Grant, not Burnside or Hooker, now was in command. Late on May 7, the general-chief rode at the head of his army and approached a lonely junction in the Wilderness. A left turn would signal withdrawal toward the fords of the Rapidan and Rappahannock. To the right lay the highway to Richmond via Spotsylvania Court House. Grant pointed right. The soldiers cheered. There would be no turning back.

Grant in the Wilderness © Mort Kunstler

A Tree is Taken Down

2007-04-07T16:20:00.001-04:00

Arbor Day will be celebrated on April 27, 2007. To honor this occassion, the City of Allentown's Parks Department has issued a call to all tree nurseries and tree management services in the area to volunteer their time and talents to assist the historic Union and West End Cemetery. The intended purpose is to remove diseased or damaged trees (most are well over 100 years old) from the cemetery. Tree removal is one of the cemetery's most expensive maintenance items. The cemetery usually raises only enough funds to remove three trees a year, at best. This fall, the Parks Department removed three additional trees from the cemetery at no cost. The Tree Service firms that answer the Parks Department's call for assistance, will also be donating their services.

It is anticipated that as many as ten trees may come down in the month of April. There is some apprehension about removing this many trees at one time, but they are generally in widely different areas of the cemetery and hopefully the impact will not be great. When opportunity knocks, one can not turn their back, but must take advantage. Monies that would normally go to tree removal will now be diverted to planting replacement trees in the cemetery.

The first tree was removed on Monday, April 2nd by Mike's Lawn Care. The tree was located very close to the fence near the corner of 12th & Liberty Streets and posed a danger to passing pedestrians, wires, cars parked at the curb, etc. Photos of the tree removal are shown below:

The first of a number of trees is removed from the cemetery.

General Ulysses S. Grant

2007-04-02T15:17:00.000-04:00

Elihu B. Washburne, the member of Congress from the Galena district in Illinois, General Grant’s old home, introduced a bill creating the grade of lieutenant-general, and it was passed by both houses of Congress, with the implied understanding that General Grant was to fill the position. The highest grade in the army theretofore created during the war had been that of major-general. The act became a law on February 26, 1864, and the nomination of General Grant was sent to the Senate by Mr. Lincoln on the 1st of March, and confirmed on the 2nd. On the 3rd the general was ordered to Washington.

On the evening of March 8, 1864 the President and Mrs. Lincoln gave a public reception at the White House. The President stood in the usual reception-room, known as the "Blue Room," with several cabinet officers near him, and shook hands cordially with everybody, as the vast procession of men and women passed in front of him. He was in evening dress, and wore a turned-down collar a size too large. The necktie was rather broad and awkwardly tied. His height of six feet four inches enabled him to look over the heads of most of his visitors. His form was ungainly, and the movements of his long, angular arms and legs bordered at times upon the grotesque. His eyes were gray and disproportionally small. His face wore a general expression of sadness, the deep lines indicating the sense of responsibility which weighed upon him; but at times his features lighted up with a broad smile, and there was a merry twinkle in his eyes as he greeted an old acquaintance and exchanged a few words with him in a tone of familiarity. He had sprung from the common people to become one of the most uncommon of men. Mrs. Lincoln occupied a position on his right. For a time she stood on a line with him and took part in the reception, but afterward stepped back and conversed with some of the wives of the cabinet officers and other personal acquaintances who were in the room.

At about half-past nine o’clock a sudden commotion near the entrance to the room attracted general attention, General Grant made his appearance, walking along modestly with the rest of the crowd toward Mr. Lincoln. He had arrived from the West that evening, and had come to the White House to pay his respects to the President. He had been in Washington but once before, when he visited it for a day soon after he had left West Point. Although these two historical characters had never met before, Mr. Lincoln recognized the general at once from the pictures he had seen of him. With a face radiant with delight, he advanced rapidly two or three steps toward his distinguished visitor, and cried out: "Why, here is General Grant! Well, this is a great pleasure, I assure you," at the same time seizing him by the hand, and shaking it for several minutes with a vigor which showed the extreme cordiality of the welcome.

The scene now presented was deeply impressive. Standing face to face for the first time were the two illustrious men whose names will always be inseparably associated in connection with the war of the rebellion. Grant’s right hand grasped the lapel of his coat; his head was bent slightly forward, and his eyes upturned toward Lincoln’s face. The President, looked down with beaming countenance upon his guest. Although their appearance, their training, and their characteristics were in striking contrast, yet the two men had many traits in common, and there were numerous points of resemblance in their remarkable careers. Each was of humble origin, and had been compelled to learn the first lessons of life in the severe school of adversity. Each had risen from the people, possessed an abiding confidence in them, and always retained a deep hold upon their affections. In a great crisis of their country’s history both had entered the public service from the State of Illinois. Both were conspicuous for the possession of that most uncommon of all virtues, common sense. Both despised the arts of the demagogue, and shrank from posing for effect, or indulging in mock heroics. Even when their characteristics differed, they only served to supplement each other, and to add a still greater strength to the cause for which they strove. With hearts too great for rivalry, with souls untouched by jealousy, they lived to teach the world that it is time to abandon the path of ambition when it becomes so narrow that two cannot walk it abreast.

The next day, March 9th, 1864, the general went to the White House, by invitation of Mr. Lincoln, for the purpose of receiving his commission as Lieutenant General from the hands of the President.

President Lincoln with his top commanders, from left,
Admirals Porter and Farragut and Generals Sherman,
Thomas, Grant and Sheridan.

While in Washington General Grant had been so much an object of curiosity, and had been so continually surrounded by admiring crowds when he appeared in the streets, and even in his hotel, that it had become very irksome to him. With his simplicity and total lack of personal vanity, he did not seem able to understand why he should attract so much attention. The President had given him a cordial invitation to dine that evening at the White House, but he begged to be excused for the reason that he would lose a whole day, which he could not afford at that critical period. "Besides," he added, "I have become very tired of this show business."

On the 12th of March, 1864 the official order was issued placing General Grant in command of all the armies of the United States.

The man we know as Ulysses S. Grant was actually named Hiram Ulysses Grant. As a boy he was known as "Lyss". Thomas Hamer, the Congrssman who appointed Grant to West Point, forgot all about Hiram. Remembering that Grant's mother's maiden name was Simpson and thinking that was Lyss Grant's middle name, he filled out the application in the name of "Ulysses S. Grant".

When Grant arrived at West Point and discovered that the Academy had him registered under the wrong name, he tried to get the error corrected. He was told that it didn't matter what he or his parents thought his name was, the official government application said his name was "Ulysses S. Grant" and that application could not be changed. If Hiram U. Grant wanted to attend West Point, he would have to change his name.

Civil War the Final Year

2007-04-01T15:38:00.000-04:00

Among others, twenty men from Lehigh County in Company F of the 54th Pennsylvania greeted the spring of 1864 from inside the Andersonville stockade prison at Anderson Station, Georgia.

While guarding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Patterson's Creek on February 2, 1864, a Confederate Cavalry force of 28 men commanded by Major Harry Gilmore swept in on Company F of the 54th at noon just as they were sitting down to dinner. One Federal soldier was killed, eight wounded and eight escaped by running off and hiding. The rest were marched off to captivity.

The prisoners were herded over the mountains to the Shenandoah Valley pike, reaching Harrisonburg in three days, and then moving on the next day to Staunton. From there they were taken to Richmond by rail and introduced to Belle Isle prison. Near the end of March they were again placed in cars and this time they were sent to Andersonville Prison, newly opened in March of 1864 and receiving its first 500 prisoners in late February. These men from Lehigh County would remain in this terrible hell until released in April 1865, 13 months of dreadful suffering. Not all returned. At least seven died in prison within the first six months of captivity.

It was in March of 1864 that General U. S. Grant became the General Chief of all Union forces and from that point forward the Union Army would be a unified force with a renewed effort to bring the terrible war to a close.

In early May, the Army of the Potomac marched into the Virginia Wilderness, scene of some of the previous years humiliation at Chancellorsville. The Battle of the Wilderness, which lasted two days was inconclusive, but proved costly for both sides.

A few days later, May 8, 1864, the Union Army was en route to Richmond, believing that they had flanked the Army of Northern Virginia, but were astonished to find a line of Confederates waiting for them at Spotsylvania. The Union troops were so tired from having marched double-time to that point that they could do little more than stagger toward the Confederate line. A stray bullet dropped General John Sedgewick in his tracks. His last words were; "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance."

Four days of intense fighting ensued. Finally, on May 12, a day that was drizzly and blanketed with fog, a wave of 20,000 Yankees rolled out of the fog and over the Confederate breastworks. Lee ordered a counterattack and the Union troops were driven back over the breastworks. Near the 'angle', savage hand-to-hand combat was the order of the day. Bayonets, swords, muzzle against muzzle, muskets used as clubs, the fighting was fierce and deadly. Wild cheers, savage yells, shouts and frantic shrieks rose above the sighing of the wind and the pattering of the rain. Even the darkness of night and the rain could not stop the contest. The battle did not end until after midnight. At three o' clock in the morning, the Confederates pulled back to a new line.

Skirmishing and maneuvering continued at Spotsylvania for another seven days. Then, on May 19, Grant tried again to slip around Lee's flank toward Richmond. And again, Lee raced to stop the Army of the Potomac.

Next came the Battle of Cold Harbor on the 3rd of June and which proved to be a Union failure. The bluecoats fell in waves. Union casualties totaled 7,000. Confederate losses were only around 1,500. Grant would later state: "I regret this assault more than any one I have ever ordered." He added, "No advantage whatever was gained from the heavy loss we sustained."

The 54th Pennsylvania Volunteers
By mid-May the Army of West Virginia, under command of General Franz Sigel, had moved south to New Market where it met a mixed Confederate force under General Breckinridge. Among the Confederates were 258 cadets from the Virginia Military Institute. The battle was distinguished by the brave, charging cadets against an artillery battery and the subsequent retirement of the Union force north to Cedar Creek. This was the first engagement of the 54th Pennsylvania as a regiment since its formation almost three years before in 1861. It had suffered losses in earlier actions but only at company level for it was always assigned guard duty along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in detached company units.

General David Hunter replaced Sigel and in early June, started south, up the Shenandoah Valley. His mission was to fulfill Grant's thrust against Lynchburg and Hunter moved south into Lexington burning and despoiling the countryside. While occupying Lexington with a force of about 18,000, he ordered the burning of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI). From Lexington, Maj. Gen. David Hunter advanced against the Confederate rail and canal depots and the hospital complex at Lynchburg. Reaching the outskirts of town on June 17, his first tentative attacks were thwarted by the timely arrival by rail of Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early’s II Corps vanguard from Charlottesville. Hunter withdrew the next day after sporadic fighting because of a critical shortage of supplies. His line of retreat through West Virginia took his army out of the war for nearly a month and opened the Shenandoah Valley for a Confederate advance into Maryland. It was during the action at Lynchburg that the 54th Pennsylvania sustained the highest loss of any unit in General Hunter's Army.

After chasing Hunter off into West Virginia, Early received orders to continue north down the valley, cross the Potomac and menace Washington D.C. At dawn, October 19, 1864, the Confederate Army of the Valley under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early surprised the Federal army at Cedar Creek and routed the VIII and XIX Army Corps. Commander Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan arrived from Winchester to rally his troops, and, in the afternoon, launched a crushing counterattack, which recovered the battlefield. This action brought the 47th Pennsylvania back North into the Shenandoah Valley where, in battle at Cedar Creek in October, it would sustain the highest battle loss of all Union infantry regiments engaged which would, in turn, contribute the greatest loss of men from the Lehigh County in the entire war.

In In September 1864 men from Lehigh County were coming forth to collect a bounty of $400 t0 $600 dollars to enlist in the newly formed 202nd PVI with a commitment of one year of service. Another one-year regiment, the 209th PVI, along with the 202nd were filled with men from Allentown and Slatington.

As 1865 arrived it was not until March 1865 that military units containing Lehigh County men went into action when on the 25th, the Confederates attacked Fort Stedman at Petersburg, Virginia. In the counterattack the 209th lost five killed and 50 wounded, Company H suffering six wounded of which two were mortal.

Now it was just a matter of days. Lee was in retreat, but the unlucky 54th Pennsylvania still had more casualties to endure. On the 5th of April the 54th along with another regiment, was assigned the destruction of High Bridge to cut Lee's line of retreat. At Rice's Station within sight of the bridge, the whole command was surrounded and captured by a Rebel force. Although this was not the end of the war, it was the end of combat for these soldiers of Lehigh County.

The Civil War ended on 9 April, 1865, at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia when General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to General U. S, Grant.

When the last of the veterans of the Civil War passed into eternity in the 1930's, not one of their grave markers would bear the name of their political party. "Civil War Veteran" was the highest honor. Even those that deserted in dishonor are buried with the same distinction, a testament to the deep national pride in the cause. To be even tangentially associated with the War of the Rebellion was enough to be noted as "Veteran" in death.

Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum

2007-03-31T18:45:00.001-04:00

The Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum's History Expo, held on Saturday, March 31, 2007 at the Heritage Center, was a huge success. Many historical and preservation entities and organizations were present to make visitors aware of the history preservation efforts in the area.

Among those with displays and representatives to talk about their particular historical site, event or association was the Union and West End Cemetery. Below are a few photographs taken at the event.

Union and West End Cemetery Display

Joe Garrera, Executive Director
Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum

Janet Hagenauger
Historian, U&WE Cemetery Association

Executive Director, Joe Garrera
with Lincoln images in background

Congratulations to Joe Garrera and the entire staff of the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum on a well organized and successful event. The displays were educational and informative. The seminars and talks were also informative and worthwile. If you weren't able to be present for this event, you missed out on a special occassion. Those that were present are richer for the experience.

Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum

2007-03-26T12:19:00.000-04:00

History Expo

Saturday, March 31, 2007

9 am—3 pm

Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum

432 West Walnut Street, Allentown, PA

Lectures and Exhibits

The Union and West End Cemetery will have an exhibit at the expo. Come out and talk to a representative of the cemetery. Learn about the cemetery's history and its future.

Battle of Chattanooga

2007-03-23T14:18:00.001-04:00

November 23—25, 1863

In September of 1863, following the rout of Union forces at the Battle of Chckamauga, Union General William S. Rosecrans retreated with his Army of the Cumberland to the safety of Chattanooga. There he awaited a Confederate assault as the town of Chattanooga, on the Tennessee River, was a strategically vital railroad junction giving east-west access into the Confederacy.

Three days after Chickamauga, on September 23, Confederate General Braxton Bragg set off in pursuit of Rosecrans at Chattanooga. There his army of Tennessee occupied the heights around the city awaiting the arrival of the Union troops.

General Rosecrans was in a precarious position, so President Lincoln ordered that two corps under the command of General Joseph Hooker be detached from the Army of the Potomac to reinforce Rosecrans' army. They also created a new command, the Military Division of the Mississippi, putting General Ulysses S. Grant in overall command at Chattanooga. Unimpressed with Rosecrans' record, Grant replaced him with Major General George H. Thomas, who had performed so heroically at Chickamauga.

By mid-November, the Army of Tennessee led by General William T. Sherman's arrived in the area bringing Grant's forces at Chattanooga to 70,000. Bragg's army, however, was not as strong as when he had arrived at Chattanooga. On November 4 he had dispatched General James Longstreet's corps from Chattanooga to Knoxville in east Tennessee, in an attempt to take the town from General Anbrose R. Burnside's Union Army of the Ohio garrisoned there. This reduced the number of men under his command at Chattanooga to 40,000, reorganized into two corps under General William J. Hardee and General John C. Breckinridge.

Grant planned to attack the rebel line encircling the city on the landward side from Lookout Mountain in the southwest to Missionary Ridge, running from southeast to northeast of the city. Hooker's corps on Grant's right would make a diversionary attack at Lookout Mountain and likewise Thomas would hold the center at Chattanooga while Sherman's corps would launch the main attack on Bragg's right, at Tunnel Hill, rolling up the Confederate lines as he swept down Missionary Ridge. Rain delayed Sherman on Grant’s intended day of attack, and instead Grant ordered Thomas to move forward from his trenches at Chattanooga to a hill called Orchard Knob, halfway between the opposing armies.

On November 23 Thomas' Army of the Cumberland brushed aside Confederate outposts to occupy Orchard Knob. Bragg, little more than a mile away on Missionary Ridge, saw the danger and pulled a division from Lookout Mountain on his left to strengthen the center. The next day Grant launched his attacks on Bragg's left and right wings. Sherman crossed the Tennessee north of Chattanooga but, having pushed aside light Confederate defenses across the river, stopped short of Tunnel Hill. Drawing up his forces on a nearby hill, he prepared for the attack on Missionary Ridge the following day. Meanwhile, at the other end of the line on November 24, Hooker had led his men across the river below Lookout Mountain and marched along the far bank to the mountain.

Facing Hooker's corps on Lookout Mountain was one Confederate division commanded by General Carter L. Stevenson. In thick mist, Hooker attacked the heavily outnumbered Confederates at 08:00, Stevenson was pushed back but managed to hold the Union troops on the steep slopes and the summit until the end of the day in what became known as the "Battle of the Clouds." This battle being in comparison a minor engagement (Union commander U. S. Grant himself called it an over glorified skirmish, “one of the romances of the war”). At nightfall the Confederates retired from the mountain, before they were cut off from the rest of their army, and joined their comrades on Missionary Ridge. The 147th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, with Lehigh Valley soldiers in the ranks, participated in the Battle Above the Clouds and in the Battle of Chattanooga.

Confederate General Bragg still resolved to hold his three-mile-long front on Missionary Ridge, believing that the high ground gave him an advantage over Grant. Breckinridge’s corps was to hold his right wing, and Hardee’s corps his left. At dawn on November 25 Sherman moved again, attacking the northernmost division on the ridge under the command of General Patrick R. Cleburne. Cleburne put up stubborn resistance on Tunnel Hill, and in spite of Sherman’s overwhelming numbers the Union force hammered against him without success into the afternoon.

Grant’s plan for the day had been for Thomas to occupy Bragg’s well-defended center while the two flanking attacks led by Sherman and Hooker would turn and destroy the Confederates, but events overtook him. Fearing that Cleburne could actually turn his own left wing, at 15:30 Grant ordered Thomas to advance to take Confederate rifle pits at the foot of Missionary Ridge. The 25,000-strong Army of the Cumberland swept forward from Orchard Knob and swept aside the Confederate line of defense at the rifle pits. Seeing that they had thrown the Confederate defenders into panicked retreat. The Union Army spontaneously continued its advance up the ridge. Unable to stop the attack, Thomas’ officers joined in the headlong scramble up the steep slopes. Reaching the crest they swept aside Bragg’s division in the center, seizing Confederate artillery which they turned and fired on the remaining defenders.

Bragg ordered a retreat to Dalton and gave General Cleburne the grim task of guarding his rear. Safely back in Dalton, he wired Davis of the defeat and asked to be relieved of duty.

The battle lasted three days; November 23—25, 1863. It was a Union victory. The casualty figures show that the killed, wounded or missing were: Confederates, 6,700 and Union, 5,800.

USS New York

2007-03-21T17:00:00.000-04:00

Artist's Rendering of the USS New York

With a year to go before it even touches the water, the Navy's amphibious assault ship, USS New York, has already made history. It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center. It is the fifth in a new class of warship — designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft. Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, La., to cast the ship's bow section.

When it was poured into the molds on Sept. 9, 2003, "those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there.

"It was a spiritual moment for everybody there." Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck stood up."

"It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back."

The ship's motto? — 'Never Forget'

Military Order of the Purple Heart

2007-03-15T13:57:00.000-04:00

Military Order of the Purple Heart
Lehigh Valley Chapter 190
Allentown, Pennsylvania

The twenty-third annual banquet
celebrating the birthday of
General George Washington
Creator of the Purple Heart

General Douglas MacArthur said: "'The Purple Heart' is unique; it is the only decoration which is completely intrinsic in that it does not depend upon approval or favor by anyone. Enemy action alone determines it. It is a true badge of courage, and every breast that wears it can beat with pride."

On Saturday March 3, 2007 Chapter 190 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart held its twenty third banquet honoring General George Washington's 275th birthday. More information and photographs are available on the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 190's web site. Click the link below:

Military Order of the Purple Heart

Abraham Lincoln

2007-02-24T23:43:00.000-05:00

This being February, it seems appropriate to include some information on the 16th President of the United States.

The above photograph of Abraham Lincoln was taken a year before Lincoln was to become President. It became known as the Cooper Union photograph and was taken by the famous photographer, Mathew Brady.

On February 22, 1860, (Washington's birthday) Candidate Lincoln quitely boarded a train in Springfield, Illinois to begin the long trip to New York. On that very morning, the Springfield Democratic newspaper, The Illinois State Register, both acknowledged and mocked Lincoln's ambitions by publishing a notice:

'SIGNIFICANT—The Honorable Abraham Lincoln departs today for Brooklyn under an engagement to deliver a lecture before the Young Men's Association of that city, in Beecher's Church. Subject not known. Consideration, $200 and expenses. Object, presidential capital. Effect, disappointment."

Of course, we know that this is not exactly what happened. The trip would increase Lincoln's presidential capital immeasurably.

The newspaper was incorrect in stating that Lincoln would speak before the Young Men's Association, but rather for New York's Young Men's Central Republican Union. And although Lincoln was scheduled to speak at Beecher's Church in Brooklyn his speach was delivered at Cooper Union in New York. This change was brought about by the fact that Lincoln had delayed his trip for so long that the church lecture series to which he had been invited had ended.

On the day that Lincoln was to deliver his first speech in the media center of the country, he went to Mathew Brady's studio to have the portrait shown above taken. As noted above, the image came to be known as the "Cooper Union Photograph."

The speech electrified Lincoln's hearers and gained him important political support in Seward's home territory. Said a New York writer, "No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience." After being printed by New York newspapers, the speech was widely circulated as campaign literature.

Standing before the crowd that night was an ungainly giant, at six feet, four inches dwarfing the other dignitaries on the stage, clad in a wrinkled black suit that ballooned out in the back. “At first sight there was nothing impressive or imposing about him,” recalled one eyewitness. The speaker appeared decidedly “ill at ease.” Yet, the power of his words and the earnestness of his delivery quickly converted doubters in the crowd, at the high watermark of a vanished era in which one major speech could make or break a rising leader. When Lincoln finished his carefully prepared address, the audience rose and cheered wildly. Abraham Lincoln came to New York an untested presidential aspirant. He left a potential White House nominee.

The last paragraph of that speech is shown below:

"Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to let it alone where it is, because that much is due to the necessity arising from its actual presence in the nation; but can we, while our votes will prevent it, allow it to spread into the National Territories, and to overrun us here in these Free States? If our sense of duty forbids this, then let us stand by our duty, fearlessly and effectively. Let us be diverted by none of those sophistical contrivances wherewith we are so industriously plied and belabored - contrivances such as groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong, vain as the search for a man who should be neither a living man nor a dead man - such as a policy of "don't care" on a question about which all true men do care - such as Union appeals beseeching true Union men to yield to Disunionists, reversing the divine rule, and calling, not the sinners, but the righteous to repentance - such as invocations to Washington, imploring men to unsay what Washington said, and undo what Washington did.Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government nor of dungeons to ourselves.LET US HAVE FAITH THAT RIGHT MAKES MIGHT, AND IN THAT FAITH, LET US, TO THE END, DARE TO DO OUR DUTY AS WE UNDERSTAND IT."

The entire text of the speech can be found by clicking on the link below:

Lincoln's Cooper Union Address

Battle Above The Clouds

2007-02-24T23:06:00.000-05:00

Lehigh men of the 147th experienced the exhilaration of the "Battle Above the Clouds" on Lookout Mountain, Tennessee and the pursuit of the Confederates into Ross Gap before going into winter quarters.

"Battle Above the Clouds"

Lookout Mountain rises over the Tennessee Valley like a monolith, it steep sides protruding to the sky. The mountain, more than 1200 feet above the valley floor beneath it is surrounded on three sides by a near vertical rock wall that has afforded protection to the occupants of the top for hundreds of years.

The mountain is known for a unique weather phenomenon. Sometimes, after a clear dawn, a layer of fog descends toward the valley below, stopping about halfway down the peak. This inverted fog has been written about since the first whites visited the area sometime before 1735. It was on a fateful day, November 24, 1863, that this weather anomaly set in, creating the most poetic name for any battle in the American Civil War, The Battle Above the Clouds.

At 8:30 a.m. men under Brigadier General John Geary bridged Lookout Creek near an old dam and began their work. They moved up the mountainside capturing unprepared Rebel pickets. As Lookout Mountain rises its slope becomes steeper and about 300 feet below the top the slope is near-vertical and strewn with large boulders. Not only did the Rebel commanders feel this was an impregnable fortress, so did Joe Hooker.

Once Geary's men reached about two-thirds of the way up the slope they stopped climbing and began to move in a line parallel to the top of the mountain. The Confederates were prepared for a force coming up the hill, not at them from the side. The Confederates pulled back under fire, giving ground up slowly but steadily. Brigadier General Edward Walthall, whose Mississippians were guarding the slopes, tried to coordinate a defense but failed. By noon Geary's men were approaching the front of the mountain.

A fog began to cover much of the top half of the mountain at 10:00am that morning, obscuring the view of the participants of the battle and the men in the Chattanooga Valley. It was this meteorological phenomena that gave the fighting on Lookout Mountain its nickname, "The Battle Above the Clouds." Through the fog Confederate artillery shells and canister would pass over the heads of the advancing soldiers. Occasionally the fog would lift briefly so that the Union Army in the Chattanooga Valley could see the action.

Halfway up on the northern slope of Lookout Mountain a plateau holds the home of Robert Cravens, a wealthy industrialist who played an important role during the first 50 years of Chattanooga's history. Cravems' House had been covered with fog for most of the morning. As Union troops approached the level ground the fog lifted. Not only could the men on Lookout Mountain see each other, but the men in the valley below could see the action as well. With a sudden burst, the Union soldiers appeared and captured the plateau from unprepared Rebel defenders. Then the Confederates battled back, trying to buy time for their fellow soldiers to establish a line east of the home. The fog then returned.

Relentlessly, Hooker's juggernaut marched on. It seemed as if nothing would prevent the Union Army from surrounding Lookout Mountain and trapping the artillery on the top. Then the Confederates got a series of unexpected breaks. Geary halted the forward advance of the Union line to regroup. While Geary was regrouping General Hooker ordered Geary to maintain his position, however, all was not stagnant on the Rebel lines.

Brigadier General Edmund Pettis moved his men into position to support Walthall and at 2:30 the Rebel line began to advance, although still greatly outnumbered. The advance was short-lived. The Battle Above the Clouds ended abruptly at 4:00pm when Stevenson received orders to withdraw from his position on Lookout Mountain and joined Bragg on Missionary Ridge.

This was the prelude for the Battle of Chattanooga which ended in a Union victory and opened Georgia up to "Sherman's March to the Sea".

Cemetery - February

2007-02-23T14:39:00.000-05:00

It is February and the cemetery is blanketed with fresh fallen snow. As it should be, every thing is quite, serene and undisturbed.

Military Order of the Purple Heart

2007-02-16T21:09:00.000-05:00

At his headquarters in Newburgh, New York, on August 7, 1782, General George Washington devised two new badges of distinction for enlisted men and noncommissioned officers. To signify loyal military service, he ordered a chevron to be worn on the left sleeve of the uniform coat for the rank and file who had completed three years of duty "with bravery, fidelity, and good conduct"; two chevrons signified six years of service. The second badge, for "any singularly meritorious Action," was the "Figure of a Heart in Purple Cloth or Silk edged with narrow Lace or Binding." This device, the Badge of Military Merit, was affixed to the uniform coat above the left breast and permitted its wearer to pass guards and sentinels without challenge and to have his name and regiment inscribed in a Book of Merit. The Badge specifically honored the lower ranks, where decorations were unknown in contemporary European Armies. As Washington intended, the road to glory in a patriot army is thus open to all."

Three badges were awarded in the waning days of the Revolutionary War, all to volunteers from Connecticut. On May 3, 1783, Sergeants Elijah Churchill and William Brown received badges and certificates from Washington’s hand at the Newburgh headquarters. Sergeant Daniel Bissell, Jr., received the award on June 10, 1783.

The award fell into disuse following the Revolution. The award was not in use during the Civil War and was not proposed again officially until after World War I. On October 10, 1927, Army Chief of Staff General Charles P. Summerall directed that a draft bill be sent to Congress "to revive the Badge of Military Merit."

For reasons unclear, the bill was withdrawn and action on the case ceased on January 3, 1928, but the Office of The Adjutant General was instructed to file all materials collected for possible future use.

The rough sketch accompanying this proposal showed a circular disc medal with a concave center in which a relief heart appeared. The reverse carried the legend: For Military Merit.

On January 7, 1931, Summerall’s successor, General Douglas MacArthur, confidentially reopened work on a new design, involved the Washington Commission of Fine Arts. His object was medal issued on the bicentennial of George Washington’s birth.

Miss Elizabeth Will, an Army heraldic specialist in the Office of the Quartermaster General, was named to redesign the newly revived medal, which became known as the Purple Heart. Using general specifications provided to her, Ms. Will created the design sketch for the present medal of the Purple Heart.

As described in Army Regulations 600-35 of November 10, 1941, the design consisted of a purple enameled heart within a bronze quarter-inch border showing a relief profile of George Washington in Continental uniform.

Surmounting the enameled shield is Washington’s family coat of arms, the same used by the heart shape and the coat of arms of the obverse is repeated without enamel; within the heart lies the inscription, For Military Merit, with space beneath for the engraved name of the recipient. The device is 1-11/16 inches in length and 1-3/8 inches in width, and is suspended by a rounded rectangular length displaying a vertical purple band with quarter-inch white borders.

The War Department announced the new award in General Order No. 3, February 22, 1932:

By order of the President of the United States, the Purple Heart established by General George Washington at Newburgh, August 7, 1782, during the War of the Revolution, is hereby revived out of respect to his memory and military achievements.

By Order of the Secretary War:

Douglas MacArthur,
General
Chief of Staff

The association of the Purple Heart with wounds or fatality suffered in the line of meritorious service also stems from this time. Eligibility for the new award was defined to include:

Those in possession of a Meritorious Service Citation Certificate issued by the Commander-in Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. The Certificates had to be exchanged for the Purple Heat or the award and Oak Leaf Clusters as appropriate. This preserved the ideal of presenting the award for military merit and loyal service.

Those authorized by Army Regulations 600-95 to wear wound chevrons. These men also had to apply for the new award.

Those not authorized wound chevrons prior to February 22, 1931, but who would otherwise be authorized them under stipulations of Army Regulations 600-95.
Revisions to AR 600-45 at the time, defining conditions of the award, elaborated upon the "singularly meritorious act of extraordinary fidelity service" required. "A wound which necessitates treatment by a medical officer and which is received in action with an enemy, may, in the judgment of the commander authorized to make the award, be construed as resulting from a singularly meritorious act of essential service."

The Purple Heart is ranked immediately behind the bronze star in order of precedence among the personal awards; however, it is generally acknowledged to be among the most aesthetically pleasing of American awards and decorations.

Military Order of the Purple Heart

Chapter 190
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Celebrating the 225th Anniversary
of the Creation of the Purple Heart.

March 3, 2007
Fullerton Fire Company #1,
851 Second Street,
Whitehall, PA.

The social hour will begin at 11:00 a.m. with a cash bar. A family style dinner of ham and roast chicken will be served at 12:30 p.m. followed by the program. Cost is $18 per person.

Reservations for this event must be made no later than February 23, 2007. To make reservations, please mail your check to Henry Lesher, 1000 Seneca Street, Pottsville, PA 179011-1539. Please include your name and address along with the names of any guest that will accompany you. Checks should be made payable to "L.V. Chapter 190 MOPH".

Details can be found on the MOPH web site:

MOPH Chapter 190

While your visiting the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 190 web site, please check the seciton entitled "Special Events" which covers the visitations to military veterans in the area nursing homes by members of the chapter.

"In Honor of Those Who Served or Who are Serving"

Union and West End Cemetery Association

2007-02-14T21:10:00.000-05:00

At a meeting of the Union and West End Cemetery Association held on February 11, 2007, the board recognized the following individuals as Honorary Directors of the Union and West End Cemetery Association:

Alvin Albright
Hon. Jennifer Mann, Pennsylvania, State Rep.
Ardath Rodale, Chairman of the Board, Rodale, Inc.

Each of these individuals have made a significant contribution to the Union and West End Cemetery Association and are considered "Dear Friends" of the cemetery.

Additionally, the following organizations were recognized as 'Benifactors' of the Union and West End Cemetery Association:

The Allentown Community Corrections Center
Jordan-Martin Lodge No. 673, F&AM
The Trexler Trust

The cemetery association is greatly and truly indebted to these individuals and organizations for their continued and ongoing support of the Union and West End Cemetery.

Corporal J. Franklin Weiss

2007-02-13T17:32:00.000-05:00

Allentown, Pennsylvania, May 1863.
Corporal J. Franklin S. Weiss of the 54th (Co. K), died at Mechanicsburg Gap, Virginia, first week of typhoid fever. Deceased had been on a visit home to his family at this place only a few weeks previous. His remains were brought home for interment.

Allentown, PA
May 27, 1863

The history of the 54th Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment is the subject of an earlier post, dated January 25, 2007.

Officers / Directors Elected

2007-02-11T20:32:00.000-05:00

On January 22, 2007, the Union and West End Cemetery Association hosted the "Annual Lot Owners Meeting" in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The purpose of the meeting was to vote on several amendments to the By-laws that had been presented to the Lot Owners and others entitled to cast a ballot for or against the matters before the Lot Owners. Additionally, officers and directors are voted on for the new year. Lot Owners, for the most part, cast their ballot by proxy.

At this meeting, the following officers and directors were elected for the year 2007:

Charles S. Canning, President
Everette H. Carr, First Vice President
Janet Hagenauer, Second Vice President
Nicolette Clark, Secretary
William R. Mac Hose, Treasurer

Gerald R. Haas, Director
Donald J. Hagenauer, Director
Donald W. Leitzel, Director
Barbara Miller, Director
Donald L. Solt, Director
Barry Moser, Associate Director

Historical Cemetery

2007-02-09T00:02:00.000-05:00

There is no doubt that anyone familiar with the Union & West End Cemetery would immediately think of it as a historical site. After all, it was originally established in 1854, more than 150 years ago. The cemetery contains the remains of five Revolutionary War soldiers, a number of veterans of the War of 1812, 715 Civil War Veterans, veterans from WWI, WWII, the Korean War and Viet Nam. Not to mention a number of celebrated politicians, prominent personages and 20,000 dear souls that led ordinary lives.

The cemetery is also the final resting place of Ignatz Gresser, a Civil War Veteran that was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Historical, well it would certainly seem so. But, unfortunately, the State of Pennsylvania does not agree. The Pennsylvania Legislature passed an act in 1994, known as the Historic Burial Places Preservation Act, that outlines the requirements to be officially considered a Historical Burial Place.

Rather than bore you with the official language and the legalize, I will paraphrase the essential elements of the law; a burial ground that has been in existence for more than 100 years wherein there have been no burials for at least 50 years.

Unless a cemetery can qualify as a historical burial place in the State of Pennsylvania, the Federal Preservation Commission will not even consider the application of a cemetery seeking Federal recognition as a Historical Site.

Being a Federal Historical Site would provide the cemetery will additional sources of revenue, not available without the designation. Additionally, the cemetery would enjoy protections that are not available because the cemetery cannot qualify under existing Pennsylvania legislature. (Act of Apr. 29, 1994, P. 141, No. 22) See also, Burial Grounds (Title 9) Unconsolidated Pennsylvania Statutes.

Many of you that read this blog regularly may not be aware of the fact that the Union & West End Cemetery is an active cemetery. Yes, it was abandoned for several years back in the late 1990's and it became a waste land for all intents and purposes, but it has never ceased to be an active cemetery. Now that the cemetery is under caring, active management and is cared for to the best of the ability of the few volunteers that are active in the cemetery every spring and summer, it is not unusual to have a number of burials each year. In 2005, there were six burials in the cemetery. In 2006, there were four burials, two of which were burials of cremated remains. So, yes! the cemetery is an active cemetery. If we were to cease all burials at the end of 2006, it would be 2056 before the cemetery would qualify as a Historical Burial Ground under current Pennsylvania law. Amazing, Huh?

But of course, the Union & West End Cemetery can not stop burials from taking place. The cemetery is owned by the "Lot Owners". The Union and West End Cemetery Association is simply the care-taker; the cemetery is maintained, preserved, and managed by a small, dedicated group of individuals that believe that the 20,000 plus souls buried in the cemetery deserve respect and consideration. The cemetery is not just a graveyard for forgotten souls; it is the final resting place of many of Allentown's earliest citizens. Citizens that had a right to expect that their final resting place would be maintained, honored and respected by those that followed. Certainly the descendants of these honored and beloved citizens have a right to expect that the cemetery will be maintained as a quite, pleasant and well maintained community resource. We owe it to them!

So, while the cemetery is referred to as a great historical site, located in downtown Allentown, it is historical only in the literal meaning of the word; but not, unfortunately, in the legal sense.

Such a shame! Such an injustice!

Battle of Gettysburg

2007-02-05T22:28:00.000-05:00

Only two units containing any substantial quantity of men from Lehigh County were present at Gettysburg. Company H of the 147th was raised in Lehigh County and the 153rd contained men from Lehigh County. The history of these units and their exploits at Gettysburg have already been posted. What follows is a brief overview of the Battle of Gettysburg:

Battle of Gettysburg

Emboldened by the victory at Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee thought the time was right to take the conflict onto Northern soil where his army could threaten Harrisburg, Philadelphia or Washington.

Although, for the most part, in the east, the Civil War was fought in Virginia, the Northern states were always under threat of attack from General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. On March 30, the Army of Northern Virginia crossed the Potomac River and marched into Pennsylvania. The people of the cities, towns and villages in Pennsylvania were in a panic. Many citizens of Harrisburg began to pack their belongings onto wagons to flee the oncoming rebel troops. Emergency Militia units were raised in a matter of hours, rather than days, all across the state to meet the enemy and to protect their home lands. As it turned out, all of the Emergency Melita units were held in defensive positions and none saw any action. For the most part, all of the volunteers that populated these emergency units were back home within twelve days.

Confederate forces heading north

General Joe Hooker, the Federal Commander, received regular reports of the movements of the Confederate Army and had at least two days notice that Lee's Army was moving northward, but he was slow to react. At the time, Hooker was bickering with his superiors in Washington and in a heated discussion, offered his resignation, which, much to his surprise, was accepted. On June 28th, Gen. George G. Meade was awakened in his tent and informed that he had been appointed the Commander of the Army of the Potomac. Meade accepted the new post reluctantly. Unlike Hooker, Meade was generally mild mannered, although occasional outburst earned him the nickname "Old Snapping Turtle." Meade immediately ordered his army to proceed in the general north-westerly direction. The armies would invariably meet at the highway hub called Gettysburg.

The Battle of Gettysburg was fought over three hot summer days to the south of the small market town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It began as a skirmish but by its end involved 160,000 Americans.

General George Meade

The Union Army of the Potomac under its very new and untried commander, General George G. Meade, marched to intercept Lee. On Tuesday morning, June 30, an infantry brigade of Confederate soldiers searching for shoes headed toward Gettysburg (population 2,400). The Confederate commander looked through his field glasses and spotted a long column of Federal cavalry heading toward the town. He withdrew his brigade and informed his superior, Gen. Henry Heth.

Federal Cavalry

Wednesday morning, July 1, two divisions of Confederate troops headed back toward Gettysburg. They ran into Federal cavalry west of the town at Willoughby Run and the skirmish began. Events would quickly escalate. Lee rushed 25,000 men to the scene. The Union Army, at this time, had less than 20,000 seasoned troops on hand.

The fighting was fierce with heavy casualties on both sides. The Federal Army was pushed back through the town of Gettysburg and regrouped south of the town along the high ground near the cemetery. Lee ordered Confederate General R.S. Ewell to seize the high ground from the battle weary Federals, "if practicable." Gen. Ewell hesitated to attack thereby giving the Union troops a chance to dig in along Cemetery Ridge and bring in reinforcements with artillery. By the time Lee realized Ewell had failed to initiate an attacked, the opportunity had vanished.

Meade arrived at the scene and determined that this could be an ideal place to do battle with Lee's Army. Meade anticipated reinforcements of upwards of 100,000 men to arrive and strengthen his defensive position. Meade redeployed his army along a strongly fortified line backed by well-placed field artillery. The Federal line was laid out on a stretch of high ground known as Cemetery Ridge, which extended southward for more than a mile from a cemetery at the edge of town to a high wooded hill called Little Round Top. The Union troops piled up stones and fence rails for breastworks and waited for the inevitable Confederate attack.

Confederate General James Longstreet saw the Union position as nearly impregnable and told Lee it should be left alone. He argued that Lee's Army should instead move east between the Union Army and Washington and build a defensive position thus forcing the Federals to attack them instead.

General Lee and his staff

However, Lee believed his own army was invincible and he was also without his much needed cavalry which served as his eyes and ears during troop movements. Cavalry leader Jeb Stuart had gone off with his troops to harass the Federals. Stuart's expedition would turn out to be, for the most part, a wild goose chase which left Lee at a disadvantage until he returned.

Lee determined that an attack on the Union Army's defensive position at the southern end of Cemetery Ridge would be his best hope as he thought it was less well defended.

About 10 a.m. the next morning, Thursday, July 2, Gen. Lee ordered Gen. Longstreet to attack, but Longstreet was quite slow in getting his troops into position and didn't attack until 4 p.m. that afternoon thus giving the Union Army even more time to strengthen its position.

Devil's Den

When Longstreet did attack the Union position, some of the most bitter fighting of the Civil War erupted at places such as Little Round Top, Devil's Den, the Wheat Field and the Peach Orchard. Longstreet successfully took the Peach Orchard but was driven back at Little Round Top.

The Wheat field

About 6:30 p.m. Gen. Ewell attacked the Union line from the north and east at Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill. The attack lasted into darkness but was finally unsuccessful at Cemetery Hill, although the Rebels seized some trenches on Culp's Hill.

The fighting came to an end about 10:30 p.m. The Union Army had lost some ground during the Confederate onslaught but still held the strong defensive position along Cemetery Ridge. Both sides regrouped and counted their causalities.

Generals from each side gathered in war councils to plan for the coming day. Union commander Meade decided his army would remain in place and wait for Lee to attack. On the Confederate side, Longstreet once again tried to talk Lee out of attacking such a strong position. But Lee thought the battered Union soldiers were nearly beaten and would collapse under one final push.

Lee thought that by attacking the center of the Union line along Cemetery Ridge where it would be least expected that he could break the Union line. To do this he would send in the fresh troops of Gen. George Pickett. At the same time, Gen. Ewell would renew the assault on Culp's hill.

But as dawn broke on Friday, July 3, about 4:30 a.m., Lee's timetable was undermined as Union cannons pounded the Rebels on Culp's Hill to drive them from the trenches. The Rebels did not withdraw, but instead launched an attack against the Federals. Thus began a vicious three hour struggle with the Rebels charging time after time up the hill only to be beaten back. The Federals finally counter attacked and drove the Rebels off the hill and east across Rock Creek. Around 11 a.m. the fighting on Culp's Hill stopped and an eerie quiet settled over the battlefield.

Once again Lee encountered opposition to his battle plan from Longstreet. Lee estimated about 15,000 men would participate in the Rebel charge on Cemetery Ridge. Longstreet responded, "It is my opinion that no 15,000 men ever arrayed for battle can take that position." But Lee was unmoved. The plan would go on as ordered.

Throughout the morning and into the afternoon amid 90° heat and stifling humidity the Rebels moved into position in the woods opposite Cemetery Ridge for the coming charge. Interestingly, some Union troops were moved away from Cemetery Ridge on Meade's orders because he thought Lee would attack again to the south. Several hours before, Meade had correctly predicted Lee would attack the center, but now thought otherwise. He left only 5,750 infantrymen stretched out along the half-mile front to initially face the 13,000 man Rebel charge.

General Lee and General Longstreet, the third day

Lee sent Jeb Stuart's recently returned cavalry to go behind the Union position in order to divert Federal forces from the main battle area. Around noon, Union and Confederate cavalry troops clashed three miles east of Gettysburg but Stuart was eventually repulsed by punishing cannon fire and the Union cavalry led in by 23 year old Gen. George Custer. The diversion attempt failed.

Back at the main battle site, just after 1 p.m. about 170 Confederate cannons opened fire on the Union position on Cemetery Ridge to pave the way for the Rebel charge. This was the heaviest artillery barrage of the war but many of the Rebel shells missed their targets and flew harmlessly overhead.

The Federals returned heavy cannon fire and soon big clouds of blinding smoke and dust hung over the battlefield. Around 2:30 p.m. the Federals slowed their rate of fire, then ceased, to conserve ammunition and to fool the Rebels into thinking the cannons were knocked out - which is exactly what the Rebels did think.

General George Pickett

Pickett went to see Longstreet and asked, "General, shall I advance?" Longstreet, now overwhelmed with emotion, did not respond, but simply bowed his head and raised his hand. Thus the order was given.

Pickett's Charge

"Charge the enemy and remember old Virginia!" yelled Pickett as 13,000 Rebels formed an orderly line that stretched a mile from flank to flank. In deliberate silence and with military pageantry from days gone by, they slowly headed toward the Union Army a mile away on Cemetery Ridge. "I had often read of battles and charges; had been in a few myself," a Federal officer on Cemetery Ridge later recalled, "but until this moment I had not gazed upon so grand a sight as was presented by that beautiful mass of gray, with its small square colors, as it came on in serried array..."

General Garrett urging the Rebels forward at Pickett's Charge

But as the Rebels got within range, Federal cannons using grapeshot and deadly accurate rifle volleys ripped into the Rebels killing many and tearing holes in the advancing line. What had been, just moments before, a majestic line of Rebel infantry, quickly became a horrible mess of dismembered bodies and dying wounded soldiers. But the Rebels continued on.

As they got very close, the Rebels stopped and fired their rifles once at the Federals then lowered their bayonets and commenced a running charge while screaming the Rebel yell.

A fierce battle raged for an hour with much brutal hand to hand fighting. For a brief moment, the Rebels nearly had their chosen objective, a small clump of oak trees atop Cemetery Ridge. But Union reinforcements and regrouped infantry units swarmed in and opened fire on the Rebel ranks. The battered, outnumbered Rebels finally began to give way and this great human wave that had been Pickett's Charge began to recede as the men drifted back down the slope. The supreme effort of Lee's army had been beaten back, leaving 7,500 of his men lying on the field of battle.

Lee rode out and met the survivors, telling them, "It is all my fault." And to Pickett he said, "Upon my shoulders rests the blame."

General Lee: "It's all my fault!"

Confederate causalities in dead, wounded and missing were 28,000 out of 75,000. Union casualties were 23,000 out of 88,000.

Today Pickett's Charge is one of the most celebrated of all American military encounters, ranking with the actions of the minuteman at Lexington and Concord, the incident at Little Big Horn. It has come down to us through poetry, painting and historical studies as a riveting moment in time. Indeed, it may well be the most mythic of all American military events: the gallant soldiers of the South, the golden-haired Pickett at their head, bravely walking through shot and shell, led over the wall by the valiant Armistead, only to be beaten back by the stalwart sons of the Union.

That night and into the next day, Saturday, July 4, Confederate wounded were loaded aboard wagons that began the journey back toward the South. Lee was forced to abandon his dead and begin a long slow withdrawal of his army back to Virginia. Union commander Meade, out of fatigue and caution, did not immediately pursue Lee.

The great assault collapsed against the might of the Northern army. The wars greatest battle resulted in a staggering Confederate defeat. Lee's losses were devastating. Never again would the South come so close to winning its independence. The Battle of Gettysburg would prove to be the turning point of the American Civil War.

The Union Conquers Vicksburg

On this same day, July 4, 1863, Vicksburg, Mississippi fell to Gen. U. S. Grant. The siege of Vicksburg had begun on May 18, 1863 and ended with the fall of Vicksburg on July 4, thus freeing Gen. Grant from his assignment in the west.

A little more than four months later, on November 19, President Abraham Lincoln was invited to the Gettysburg battlefield to make a few appropriate remarks at the dedication ceremonies creating the first National Cemetery. The principle speaker on that occasion was Edward Everett of Massachusetts. He delivered an eloquent two hour recitation. Then President Lincoln stood at the podium. He spoke in his high, penetrating voice and in a little over two minutes delivered his Gettysburg Address. Many in the audience were surprised by its brevity and generally, the newspapers ridiculed the presidents remarks. Edward Everett, however, commented that what had taken him two hours to portray, Lincoln had captured the spirit and the importance of the occasion in a just a few words. History and time would prove the power of Lincoln's well chosen words.

Abraham Lincoln

Although in his speech, Lincoln did not make a distinction between the combatants, it should be noted that only Union soldiers were disinterred from their battlefield graves to be interred in the new Gettysburg National Cemetery. Confederate combatants were left in mass graves on the field of battle.

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington Virginia, buried it's first military service man, Pvt. William Henry Christman, 67th Pennsylvania Infantry, who was interred on May 13, 1864. Although Arlington National Cemetery has become the largest and best known of all National cemeteries, because of its close proximity to Washington, The new National Cemetery at Gettysburg was the first cemetery to be designated a National Cemetery.

Outside of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, the Union and West End Cemetery in Allentown, Lehigh County, has more Union Civil War Veterans buried within the grounds than any other cemetery in Pennsylvania.

Slavery in America 1619-1865

2007-02-01T15:30:00.000-05:00

'Inalienable rights.'. . 'Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness'. . . 'We hold these truths to be self-evident.'. . .

But of course the Declaration of Independence did not apply to all.

Jamestown was settled in Virginia in 1607. The first African slave came in 1619. All slaves were freed by 1865 during the American Civil War, chiefly by the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation. From 1619 until 1865, people of African descent were legally enslaved within the boundaries of the United States by whites; some were enslaved by Indians and free blacks. The economy of the country was enhanced by the labor afforded by slavery. Over half a million Africans were brought over from Africa during the slave trade, but because laws made the offspring of slaves as slaves, the slave population in the United States grew to 4 million by the 1860.

The Daily Dispatch: July 1, 1863.

2007-01-31T22:45:00.000-05:00

Richmond Dispatch
Runaways.

Runaway
--$200 Reward.-- Runaway from the subscriber, on the morning of the 26th of June, 1863 my Negro Boy Ren. He is about 20 years of age, of a dark gingerbread complexion, about 5 feet 3 inches in height. He had on when he left a light-colored jacket, a pair of blue Yankee pants, and a black hat; and he is evidently trying to make his way to the Yankees. I will pay the above reward if delivered to me, or one hundred and fifty dollars if recurred in any jail so that I may recover him. Post Office, Richmond.

Sarah T Sytdnok,

Ex'x of W B sydnor, dec'd, Hanover co. Va,
One mile below Mechanicsville. Jv 1-- 4t*

Ran Away
--From the subscriber, on the night of the 29th of June, my negro boy Walker, about five feet high, brown complexion, full head of hair, rather stout built; had on boots, dark pants. white woolen coat, and hat bound with blue, and blue-striped cotton shirt, said boy was bought in this city on the 24th of June. He was brought from Clarke county, in the Valley of Virginia and was formerly owned by Dr. Smith, of the above named Canty. I will give fifty dollars for his deliverance to me, or if placed in any place where I can get him.

John M Eidola,

Westham Plankroad, half mile from Richmond. Jy 1--6t*

Runaway
--$300 Reward--Ran away, on the 23rd inst, my man William. He is about 28 years old, 5 feet 8 or 10 inches high, rather slender frame, ginger bred color, and is generally known about the city as Wm Tinsley.

Edmond and George left my house about 6 o'clock yesterday morning. Edmonds about 15 years old, quite black, about 5 feet 3 or 4 inches high, well made and likely. George is about 13 years old, ginger-bred color, thick lips, and well grown.

I will pay three hundred dollars for the delivery of the three boys, or one hundred dollars for the delivery of either.

S C Greenhow.
je 30 -- 5t

Ran Away
--$100 Reward. --ran Away from the subscribers on inst night, a negro boy named Martin, purchased of Dr. M A Anderson, of Louisa county. He is about 5 feet 5 or 6 inches in height, stout built, bushy head, and good teeth about 20 years old. He was dressed in a suit of gray homespun clothes, and had on a home-made straw hat. No flesh mars recollected. It is likely he is making his way towards Louisiana. We will give the above reward if delivered to Lee & James, of Richmond, or if confined in jail so that we get him again.

McMurry & Winstead.
je 30--4t8

Run Away
--From the subscriber, in Fluvanna co, Va, on the 29th of May last, my man Moses. He is near 6 feet high, black, rather slender, but large bone; one eye out, the right I believe; knock kneed and turned somewhat to one side; near on arm between elbow and shoulder, cut by a knife, coarse voice; had on Jeans, sack coat and mixed uniform pants. He may endeavor to pass as free and gone off with soldiers. I Will give $100 if taken out of the state, or $50 in the State; or $15 if taken in Fluvanna, or any adjoining county to. In either case to be delivered to me, or placed in jail so that I get him.

Geo W Pettit, Dixie P O,
Fluvanna, Va.je 11--13t*

Negro for sale and hire.
For hire
By the month, a Servant Woman, who is an average Cook, Washer and Ironer. She has a little daughter, large enough to set the table sweep up the house, &c., who will go with her. She is for hire because the family with whom she is living intends visiting the country for a few months. Apply to me at this office, up stairs, new building.

M B Godwin.
je 30--2t*

For hire
--A lot of likely young Men and Boys. Also, several young Women, all just from the country. Some good farm hands; those in want will do well to call early.

P M Tabb & Son,
Recharge Bio;domg. je 30--2t*

Richmond Dispatch, July 1, 1863

Franklin Miller

2007-01-29T19:43:00.000-05:00

Franklin Miller was born in 1823. Nothing is known of his life prior to his entering the service of the United States Army except, it is known that he was married to Sabilla and that they likely had two children (perhaps more); Ellen born in 1849 and Harry F. born 23 June 1859. There may well have been additional children in the ten years between 1849 and 1859.

When the War Between the States broke out in April, 1861, Franklin would have been 37 years of age, his wife, 36. The children that we are aware of, would have been 12 and just under 2 years. Franklin enlisted in the Union Army in Allentown, Lehigh County and presumably this is where he had his home.

Franklin Miller was among many Lehigh Countians that enrolled on October 21, 1861, in the three-year volunteer regiment known as the Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment. Company K' was made up of men from Lehigh County. Other Pennsylvania counties represented in the Fifty-fourth were Cambria, Somerset, Dauphin and Northampton. The regiment was organized at Camp Curtin where the men were drilled by squads and companies.

The regiment was ordered to Washington on the 27th of February, 1862. In late March, the regiment was sent to Haper's Ferry where they would be disbursed up and down the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Each company was assigned to a bridge that crossed a local creek. The total distance that the regiment protected was fifty-six miles of railroad tracks, or more correctly, the bridges along these fifty-six miles.

Company K' under the command of Captain Edmond R. Newhard was assigned to guard the bridge at Little Cacapon Bridge, which was more than fifty miles from Martinsville, Virginia and the second furthest from the first detachment.

The area was swarming with Rebel guerrilla bands that harassed the citizens that harbored northern sympathies and were bent on destroying the railroad bridges of the B&O. On the morning of October 4, 1863, A Confederate guerrilla band struck Company K's position. The men of Company K were at roll call and were caught off-guard. Although they attempted to resist the hostile force, the odds were too great and they had to yield. Thirty-five of the company escaped; but Captain Newhard, and fifty of his men were captured. Seven of the men were wounded. The enemy had two killed and eight wounded. The rebel force then moved on to the next station and completely surprised Company B. The entire company was taken prisoner.

The prisoners were taken to Libby Prison at Richmond, Virginia where they were held until exchanged in December, 1863. It is not known if Franklin Miller was among those imprisoned at Libby or was among those that escaped. At any rate, those of Company B and K that were taken prisoner were returned to their unit which had, in the meantime, been assigned to the Eight Corps, Third Brigade of the Second Division. With this new assignment, the regiment was no longer involved in the trying duty of defending the railroad from attack.

In the latter part of 1863, the unit saw service in West Virginia, a new state that had been created from the northwest portion of Virginia just the past June. In early 1864 the Fifty-fourth Regiment was stationed at Cumberland, Maryland while rotating companies were garrisoned at nearby Patterson Creek, West Virginia. On one such night in February, 1864, Company F' was captured by rebel forces while doing duty at Patterson Creek. By this time, the exchange program between the North and the South, had been suspended, The men of Company F' were sent to the newly opened Camp Sumter at Andersonville, Georgia. As time past, this prison would become infamous for its cruel and inhuman conditions and would come to be known simply as 'Andersonville Prison'.

On May 15, 1864, the Fifty-fourth was ordered to New Market to join in an existing campaign to drive the rebel forces out of the Shenandoah Valley. When the unit arrived at New Market, the battle was already raging. The regiment fell in behind the twelfth West Virginia Infantry Regiment until the twelfth shifted to the right. The Fifty-fourth moved into the gap and became the last unit on the Union left flank. When the West Virginia unit charged the Confederate right, the commander of the Fifty-fourth gave a similar order and the men of the regiment charged the Confederate line. The Fifty-fourth laid down an effective fire although they suffered a galling and destructive fire that killed or wounded many of the regiments men. At one point, the rebel left faltered and a replacement unit made up of VMI Cadets moved into the breach and continued to pour a blistering fire into the men of the Fifty-fourth. The Twelfth West Virginia began to withdraw, leaving the right of the Fifty-fourth exposed while simultaneously the rebel force began a flanking movement around their exposed left. Colonel Campbell, in an effort to avoid being surrounded, ordered the regiment to withdraw, which it did in an orderly and controlled fashion.

At the outset of the battle, the Fifty-fourth had 566 men engaged. After the battle ended, the regiment had lost five commissioned officers killed or mortally wounded and 2 wounded and brought off the field. Of the enlisted men, 27 were known to have been killed, and 42 were wounded, all of whom fell into enemy hands. An additional 98 wounded men were brought off the field of battle.

It is believed that Franklin Miller was among those wounded and captured at New Market. Like the men of Company F, the captured Union soldiers of the Fifty-fourth were taken to Andersonville Prison in Georgia. The prison had been built in February, 1864 and was designed to hold 10, 000 prisoners in an open stockade with no protection from the elements. At one time, in July 1864, the prison held more than 32,000 Union prisoners in foul, unsanitary conditions, with scant food supplies and virtually no fresh vegetables or water. Before the inmates of the prison were released, almost 13,000 Union soldiers had died. The dead were buried outside the prison walls in graves marked with a number.

Franklin Miller, Private, Company K, Fifty-fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers died on October 27, 1864. He is buried at Andersonville, Georgia in grave number 11,542.

Altogether, 27 men from the Fifty-fourth Regiment died at Andersonville. Most of the men were formerly with Company F' of the Fifty-fourth. There will be more on Andersonville on this blog at a later date.

The Miller family has a family plot at the Union and West End Cemetery in Allentown, Pennsylvania. In the family plot next to the monument that marks Sabilla Miller's grave is a similar monument that marks an empty grave. The monument is inscribed as follows:

Franklin Miller

Born 1823 - died 1864

Buried at Andersonville, GA

Company K' 54th PA Reg.

Sabilla Miller, 18 Dec 1824 - 17 Pct 1906

Other family members buried in the plot are:

Ellen Beisel. 1849 - 1874

Raymond Nagle, 17 Dec 1888 - 5 Aug 1889

Mary O. Miller, 14 June 1868 - 25 Apr 1950

Harry F. Miller, 23 June 1859 - 15 Aug 1919

Fifty-Fourth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment

2007-01-25T16:42:00.000-05:00

Many men from the Lehigh Valley enrolled with the Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment on October 22, 1861. The 54th Pennsylvania was a three-year regiment. It was raised in Cambria, Somerset, Dauphin, Northampton and Lehigh counties. Company K was made up of men from Lehigh County.

The regiment was initially ordered to Washington where they practiced drilling. On March 29, 1862, the regiment arrived at Harper's Ferry for the purpose of defending the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Company G was assigned to guard Back Creek Bridge eight miles west of Martinsburg; Company F at Sleepy Creek Bridge, nine miles further west; Company D at Alpine Station, five miles beyond the Sleepy Creek post; Company I at Sir John's Run, six miles further west; Company C at Great Cacapon Bridge, five miles west of Sir John's Run; Company H at Rlckwell's Run, six miles beyond' company E at No.12 Water Station; company B at Paw Paw, three or four miles further on; company K at Little Cacapon Bridge, and company A at South Branch Bridge, sixteen miles east of Cumberland, and sixty-two miles west of Kartinsburg. The distance to be guarded was fifty-six miles.

The country through which the railroad ran was considered by the Rebels to be their own territory. Roving guerrilla bands roamed the country, pillaging and burning the property of Union Inhabitants and always watchful for an opportunity to burn the railroad bridges. To guard this great thoroughfare, of vital importance to the government, to suppress guerrilla warfare, to afford protection to the harrassed and helpless people, was the duty to which the regiment was assigned to perform. Colonel Campbell, the regimental commander, at once assumed, as a cardinal principle, that the true way to deal with guerrillas was to assume the offensive, and hunt them, instead of waiting to let them hunt him. Almost daily, from some part of the line, squads were sent out to engage and capture these roving bands and many were brought in. Some were sent to Harper's Ferry, others, after taking the oath of alligience were released. From June 1st to September 10th, two hundred and thirteen gurrillias and two hundred and seventy-three horses, together with muskets, sabers, pistols and other military trappings, were captured.

At daylight on the 4th of October 1862, a rebel force, Partisan Rangers, 700 strong, attacked company K's position. The men were at roll call when the enemy , under cover of a dense fog, rushed into their camp. The Union troopers attempted to drive out the hostile force, but the odds were too great, and they were forced to yield. Thirty-five of the company escaped; but Captain Newhard and fifty of his men were captured. Seven men of the company were wounded. The enemy had two killed and eight wounded.

The Rebel marauders then proceeded to the next post where it quickly captured all men of company B. The men of both companies were taken to Richmond, Virginia and confined in Libby Prison in that city.

Soon afterwards, the regiment was attached to the command of General Morrell, and moved to the defense of the Upper Potomac. In December, companies B and K, having been exchanged, returned to the regiment. The 54th performed various duties in the area until it received orders on the 6th of July, to co-operate with the Army of the Potomac, now driving the enemy from the field of Gettysburg. The 4th Brigade, to which the regiment was attached, followed the Confederate Army's retreat into Virginia.

The Fifty-fourth was not further engaged in any serious activity until early May, 1864 when, with the Eighth Army Corps, it commenced a campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. The Corps encountered an unusually large force commanded by General Breckinridge, near New Market, Virginia. The battle raged with great fury, but the enemy's superior numbers began to prevail and the Union lines were forced back. The fifty-fourth retired in good order, returning the fire of the rebel forces until they ceased to pursue. The Corps retreated to Cedar Creek where they threw up defensive works. The regiment lost one hundred and seventy-four killed, wounded and missing.

On June 5th, the First Brigade met the enemy in force near New Hope Church, where he was well posted behind breastworks. Three successive charges were made by this gallant bridage, but was as often swept back by a murderous fire. The Fifty-fourth had been posted to the left of the line, where, from early morning until noon, it was maneuvred in the face of a destructive fire of shot and shell, holding in check the enemy's cavalry, and protecting that wing. At one p.m. the Second Brigade, of only three regiments, was ordered to storm and carry the works, which six regiments had vainly, but well fought for all morning. The brigade charged the works, and poured a single volley in upon the rebel mass, then used muskets as clubs in a terrible hand to hand encounter. With unflinching bravery, the small brigade held the ground against repeated attempts of the enemy to regain it. Finally, the rebel leader went down with a shot to the head and the rout of his forces commenced. The regiment lost thirty killed and wounded in this battle.

On the 17th of June, the Fifty-fourth now assigned to the 3rd Brigade of the Second division, arrived at Lynchburg, where the enemy had concentrated in large force. Heavy skirmishing immediately commenced, and the fighting soon became general. For the next two days the contest was waged, raging at times with great fury. The regiment lost fifty-four of their number killed in the engagement. Finding the enemy too strong and too well entrenched, the Union forces withdrew and eventually made its way to Martinsburg, arriving on the 14th pf July.

Meanwhile, General Early, who had been detached from Lee's Army, had advanced into Maryland, had driven Wallace from the Monocacy, and had approached to the very gates of the Capital. The timely arrival of General Wright, with the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps, from Grant's army, turned him back. The 3rd Brigade was ordered from Martinsburg to intercept his retreat. The command hastened through Lovettsville to Snicker's Gap, only to learn that Early had already passed through. The Army of West Virginia joined the pursuit. Three Union Brigades passed the Blue Ridge, and, avoiding the main ford, which was strongly defended, crossed at an unfrequented ford. Early's entire force was here concentrated, but the three brigades immediately attacked. However, being vastly outnumbered, the Union forces were driven back and recrossed the river. The loss to the Fifty-forth was seven.

General Wright with his two Corps crossed the river and pressed the enemy who fell back to Winchester. Here the pursuit was stayed and Wright, with his force, returned to Washington. When Early was apprised of this, he immediately began to again move forward and press the attack. As the day wore on, the fighting became more and more intense, particularly in the vicinity of Kernstown. The Union commander order a general retreat in the face of a superior force, eventually crossing to the north side of the Potomac.

During the remaining summer months, the regiment participated in the marches and counter-marches of the command. About this time, General Sheridan took command and reorganized the army in preparation for an active campaign. The Fifty-fourth, with the rest of the command, marched to Cedar Creek where it engaged in some minor skirmishes. Then on August 28th, the whole force marched to Charlestown and then to Berryville. On its arrival in Berryville on September 3rd. a severe engagement occurred, lasting far into the night.

At two o' clock on the morning of the 19th of September, 1864, Sheridan advanced to drive the enemy from its strongly fortified position near Winchester. The Battle at Winchester was a complete rout of the Confederate forces. Several days later, it enjoyed similar success.

On the 19th of October, in the absence of General Sheridan, Confederate General Early, passed silently from his camp at midnight, and dividing his command into two columns, gained a position undiscovered, very close to the Union force, whence, in the mist of the early morn, his forces fell with crushing force upon an unsuspecting Union force. The rout was complete, the rebel forces were in full possession of the Union camps, artillery, and many prisoners.

When General Sheridan, who was at General Grant's hedadquarters at the time, learned that the Confederate force under Early, had attacked his camp, he immediately mounted his horse and rode like the wind toward his embattled troops. In a short time Sheridan arrived upon the field, and with remarkable coolness and assurance, collected his scattered forces, formed his line of battle, and when well in hand and inspired with the spirit of their leader, he fell upon the enemy, rioting in the captured camps, and before night fall had retrieved all that was lost, and was glorying in his captures of artillery, small arms, and a great crowd of prisoners, the exultant enemy reduced to a flying mob. The 54th suffered severely in this engagement. Being posted in advance, and the first to feel the enemy's blow. This engagement ended the campaign of the Shenandoah, and the enemy never afterwards made his appearance in the valley in force.

Sheridan's Eighth Corps marched from the valley to join Grant at Petersburg. The Fifty-fourth was reassigned to duty in the Army of the James. The Fifty-fourth was then consolidated with the remnants of the Third and Fourth Reserve Regiments in February, 1865. On the 2nd of April the regiment was ordered to join a general forward movement. At Fort Gregg it met spirited resistence, but the enemy eventually yielded. In the brief engagement, the regiment lost twenty killed and wounded.

The rebel army had been routed from its works at Petersburg and was rapidly retreating toward North Carolina. The Fifty-fourth was one of two regiments ordered to destroy High Bridge to cut off the rebel forces avenue of retreat. The rebels had taken precautions to protect their only way of retreat and the advancing Union force was met with substantial Confederate forces. After a desparate struggle, a large portion of the Union command was either killed or taken prisoner and those remaining found themselves surrounded. Surrender was the only option. Although the Union force was not successful in destroying the bridge, it did delay the main force for several hours, allowing Sheridan to sweep around the rear of the rebel force and complete the destruction and capture of that once proud and defiant army.

After four days of marching, without rations, with the retreating rebel army, the Union captives were, to their great joy, released from captivity by Grant's victorius cloumns. The Fifty=sourth made its way to Appomattox Court House and from there, the regiment made its way to Harrisburg where it was mustered out of service on 15 July 1865.

Some of the men of the Fifty-fourth had been mustered out in July, 1864 having served their full three-year term. Many of the men in Company K' were transferred to Company B' at some unknown date and a large number of men of the original Company K' were simply reported as 'not present for muster' when the unit was mustered out in July, 1865. Most of Company K had joined the Fifty-fourth in October, 1861 and would have completed their three-year commitment in October, 1864 and thus would not have been present for final muster in July, 1865.

Chew Street Across from Cemetery

2007-01-13T16:18:00.000-05:00

The photographs that follow are of residences on Chew Street in the "Old Allentown Historical District" and are situated directly across the street from the Union and West End Cemetery. The photos begin generally at 10th Street and then proceed west toward 12th Street.

Click here to view enlargement of door

The residents that live in these houses on Chew Street take pride in their community and keep their property and their side of the street looking very nice.

Unfortunately, the cemetery side of the street does not receive the same care and attention. Although the city has placed trash recepticles on post at various locations along this stretch of sidewalk, the transients that walk through from someplace else, going someplace else are not as thoughtful about properly disposing of their trash. With all the other chores that keep the volunteer cemetery staff occupied, it is almost impossible to keep this area outside the cemetery property free from trash and litter.

10th Street Across from Cemetery

2007-01-07T19:46:00.000-05:00

Photos of houses along Tenth Street from about Gordon Street going south toward Chew Street.

The residents that live on the 10th Street across from the cemetery make an effort to keep their property and the surrounding area neat and clean.

DEPLOY THE SKIRMISHERS

2007-01-01T15:43:00.000-05:00

As you read the Civil War posts to the cemetery blog, particularly those detailing battles, you will run across the reference to 'skirmishers'. The word skirmisher originated with the French and had to do with sword fighting, i.e., reaching out to make contact with an enemy. By the time the Civil War was fought, the term skirmisher had nothing to do with swords or sword fighting, but described the men that were deployed out ahead of the army to probe for the enemy.

Skirmish lines often served as the eyes and ears of regiments or brigades on the march. Skirmishers were sent forward or along the flanks of moving bodies of troops to determine the whereabouts of the enemy or to draw the enemy out.

Napoleon had relied extensively on skirmishers and thus, Civil War infantry manuals included skirmishing tactics and commands. Officers and troops were drilled for skirmisher duty. For officers, these drills included how to deploy skirmishers, how they should advance, proper skirmish firing, rallying the skirmishers, and deploying a battalion as skirmishers.

Companies were often deployed as skirmishers in front of a regiment or at a flank. A typical order for the deployment of a platoon: "First platoon—as skirmishers, on the left file, take intervals—march! The men thus summoned would march forward, separate into lines and then break into groups of four. The distance between the groups depended upon the terrain and the circumstances, but was not suppose to exceed forty paces. If the skirmishers were to be deployed on the flank the command would be: "Second platoon—as skirmishers, on the right flank, take intervals—march!"

Once out as skirmishers, the commands used were standard military commands. "Forward, march!" "Halt!" In retreat, march! This last command was often "Retreat, double quick, march!" Skirmishers frequently unexpectedly came in contact with enemy forces and quick action was necessary. In these circumstances, one did not wait for an order to fire! At such times, the normal order of commands often broke down, and it was every man for himself.

If a unit had access to a cavalry unit, it would not be unusual to utilize the cavalry regiment as skirmishers.

If a battalion were already in battle lines, platoons could be deployed forward as a fighting force or called back into line as needed after serving one of the functions most vital to a Civil War army: "feeling" the enemy, thus avoiding surprise, and protecting the main body of troops.

Charles & William Issermoyer

2006-12-27T15:21:00.000-05:00

William & Charles Issermoyer

Charles Issermoyer and his younger brother, William Issermoyer, were mustered into Company D, One Hundred fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry regiment on October 7, 1862 under the surname, 'Isemoyer'. The 153rd PVI was a nine month company raised in Northampton County although the Issermoyer brothers were from Lehigh County. Charles entered with the rank of Corporal and William as a Private. The regiment proceeded to Washington D.C. and was then ordered to duty with the Eleventh Corps, the First Brigade, First Division.

On the 9th of December, upon the eve of the Battle of Fredericksburg, the brigade was ordered forward and reached Stafford Court House after an exhausting march. The unit did not participate in the fighting at Fredericksburg. It was later ordered to Potomac Creek Bridge where it settled into winter-quarters. On February 21, 1863 Corporal Charles Issermoyer was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.

It was not until early May of 1863 that the 153rd would be engaged in battle. At that time, the regiment was on the Chancellorsville battle-ground. The 153rd was positioned on the extreme right of the Union line when the Rebel forces attacked. General Lee determined that the right flank of the Union line was weak and, splitting his forces into two groups against a superior force, he had General Jackson charge the right flank.

The One Hundred and Fifty-third was the first unit to be struck. With the steadiness of veterans, the regiment returned fire with deadly effect. The enemy was then coming in on both flanks and it would be certain destruction to stand longer and accordingly the unit was ordered to retire. Broken and disorganized by this overwhelming blow by the enemy, the brigade retired rapidly. The Union forces were able to regroup and the battle continued for on the next day (May 3,1863). The loss for the One Hundred Fifty-third was nineteen men killed, three officers, and fifty-three men wounded and thirty-three taken prisoner.

One of those taken prisoner, on May 3rd, was Sergeant Charles Issermoyer. He was transported to Richmond, Virginia and imprisoned in Libby Prison in that city where he remained until exchanged. This prison was primarily used for Union officers but enlisted men would come to Libby Prison and then be transferred elsewhere or would be exchanged.

From the Richmond Enquirer, 5/12/1862, p. 1, c. 6
PRISONERS OF WAR. – Up to yesterday morning there were in the Government prisons, in this city, the following captives: Prisoners of war, 918; disloyal citizens, 196; Confederate soldiers, 22; deserter from the Federals, 10; negroes, 16 – Total, 1,157. Of the foregoing, 860 privates were paroled and sent down the river last night, by the steamer Northampton, to Newport News, to be exchanged for an equivalent number of our men in the hands of the enemy. The departing Yankees were under the charge of Major Warner and Lieut. Turner, of the Confederate States Army, and did not appear sorry to go.

It is believed that Sergeant Charles Issermoyer was among those exchanged on May 12, 1863. Is it not odd that a Union soldier that enlisted in Northampton County was transported to Newport News to be exchanged on a steamer named 'Northampton'?

The Eleventh Corps, to which the 153rd was attached, arrived at Emmittsburg on the 30th of June. At eight o'clock on the following morning, it was put in motion towards Gettysburg, moving at a rapid rate to the sound of the enemy's guns. The Corps engaged the enemy which was already in heavy force, advancing on all sides. It was losing fearfully and had no hope of gaining any advantage, when Colonel Von Gilsa, unwilling to sacrifice his men needlessly ordered them back. In this brief engagement, the 153 rd regiment lost one officer, and thirty-two men killed, eight officers, and ninety-three men wounded, and eighty-two missing and prisoners. The Corps was soon after ordered to retreat through the town, and take position on Cemetery Hill.

On July 2nd at about four in the afternoon, a perfect storm of shot and shell was poured upon the Eleventh Corps, inflicting merciless slaughter. Shot and shell were poured into them from the artillery crowning the hill, along with showers of bullets from the well poised muskets of the Confederate infantry. The Corps was pushed by the Rebels to the point that they were compelled to retire on their first line of defenses, but even then the enemy followed, while the more daring were already within the Union lines and were now resolutely advancing toward the Union pieces.

The foremost one had already reached a piece, when, throwing himself over the muzzle of the cannon, he called out the the by standing gunners: "I take command of this gun." 'Du sollst sic haben,'* was the curt reply of the sturdy German, who, at that very moment, was in the act of firing. A second later, and the soul of the daring rebel had "taken its flight." With a desperate persistence, the enemy struggled for the mastery; but in vain. His bravest had already fallen. The Union lines were being rapidly reinforced, and seeing no hope of holding ground, the Confederate troops sullenly retired.

During the following day, the position was subjected to a fierce artillery fire, but the enemy made no more attempts with his infantry upon that part of the line. On the morning of the fourth, unusual movements of the enemy having been observed, a detachment of seventy-five men, forty-six of whom were from the One Hundred and Fifty-third, was sent out towards the town to discover the rebel strength. They were greeted by hostile shots, but pushing forward, they captured two hundred and ninety prisoners, and two hundred and fifty stands of arms, and found that the main body of Confederate forces had gone. During the Battle of Gettysburg, the regiment lost one officer and ten men killed, eight officers, and one hundred and eight men wounded, and one hundred and eighty-eight missing; an aggregate of three hundred and eight.

Among those captured and taken prisoner was Pvt. William Issermoyer. He was captured on July 1st, the first day of battle. However, he had returned to his company prior to it being mustered out of service.

The battle of Gettysburg ended the hard fighting for the 153rd regiment. Although it's term of enlistment had expired, and it had asked for its release; their request was denied and the regiment continued to move with the Corps in pursuit of the rebel forces. Finally on the 14th, orders for the discharge of the regiment were received, it moved by Frederick City and Baltimore, to Harrisburg, where on July 24, 1863, the regiment was mustered out of service.

On taking leave of the regiment, upon its departure from his brigade, Colonel Von Gilsa said: "I am an old soldier, but never did I know soldiers, who, with greater alacrity and more good will, endeavored to fulfill their duties. In the battle of Chancellorsville you, like veterans, stood your ground against fearful odds, and, although surrounded on three sides, you did not retreat until by me commanded to do so. In the three days battle at Gettysburg, your behavior put many an old soldier to the blush, and you are justly entitled to a great share of the glory which my brigade has won for itself, by repulsing the two dreaded Tiger Brigades of Jackson. In the name of your comrades of the First Brigade, and myself, I now bid you farewell."

In 1910, Charles Issermoyer was living at 139 North Lumber Street in the 4th ward in Allentown, Pennsylvania with his second wife, Sarah. He was 67 years of age and his wife was 54 years of age. They had been married five years. Charles Issermoyer was born in Pennsylvania, but both of his parents were born in Germany. He was a shoemaker and owned his own shop. In the house with them was Martin A. Johnson, 24; Annie Johnson, 21; and Milton R. Johnson, their son who was less than one month of age. Martin was born in Denmark but came to the U. S. as a child in 1890. He and Annie had been married one year. He was employed as a Ribbon Weaver in a silk mill. He is listed as a son-in-law and Annie as a daughter. Sarah gave birth to three children and only one was living in 1910, so it can be presumed that this was Sarah's daughter by a previous marriage.

Charles and William were the sons of Lewis Issermoyer, born 22 Feb 1798, died 8 Oct 1861, and Hannah Issermoyer, born 16 Oct 1808, died 13 March 1866.

Charles Issermoyer was born on June 26, 1843 and died on April 20, 1911, at age 68 years, 8 months and 26 days. His first wife and the mother of his children was Eliza A., who died on 19 July 1903. Charles and Eliza had at least three children. Two died in infancy: Laura A., born 10 July 1869, died 12 Feb 1872 and Lillie E., born 14 March 1872 and died 18 Feb 1873. Charles, Eliza, Laura and Lillie as well as Charles' parents, Lewis and Hannah are buried in the family plot in Union and West End Cemetery. It is believed that the third child was a boy.

In 1920, Sara Issermoyer, now 62 was living in the household of her daughter, Annie F. Johnson and her husband, Martin A. Johnson. The Johnson's live at 213 N. Jordan in the 9thward. They have a son and three daughters ranging in age from 1-1/2 to 7.

Additionally, in 1920, there was a Fred and Lillie M. Issermoyer living at 914 Allen Street. Fred is 35 and Lillie is 33. They have three childen, Paul 12, Mary 7, and Richard who is 3-1/2. It is not clear if this is the son of Charles and Eliza Issermoyer.

* "You should not have!"

Seasons Greetings #2

2006-12-23T12:35:00.000-05:00

March 1863
Painted 2002
Limited Edition Print
Mort Künstler

"Divine Guidance "

It was heart-breaking news, even for a man of war. General Thomas Jefferson “Stonewall” Jackson received the hard tidings at his headquarters near Fredericksburg, Virginia early on the morning of March 17, 1863. Just the day before, the general’s headquarters had been relocated from a winter campsite he had occupied for several months at nearby Moss Neck Plantation. At the time, the owner of Moss Neck, Richard Corbin, was serving elsewhere in the Confederate cavalry. Left at home on the plantation was his wife, Roberta, and the couple’s five year-old daughter, Jane Wellford Corbin - who was known affectionately as “Janie.”

General Jackson and Janie became friends. Jackson had an infant daughter back home that he had not yet seen, and he found little Jane irresistibly delightful. “She was very pretty and bright,” an officer would recall, “with a sweet and happy face and fair, flaxen curls.” She came regularly to visit the famous commander at headquarters, and Jackson would interrupt his duties to play with her. “She would play there for hours,” an observer would recollect, “sitting on the floor with a pair of scissors cutting paper and entertaining him with her childish prattle.” Jackson normally kept the warm, affectionate side of his personality to himself, and was known to fellow officers and troops as formal and reserved. Officers and soldiers who held such a view of the general were stunned to find him upon occasion that winter sitting on his headquarters floor, laughing and playing with joyful little Janie.

When Jackson moved his headquarters to nearby Hamilton’s Crossing in preparation for a spring offensive, he left Moss Neck with concern for little Janie. She had contracted scarlet fever, but reports from the Corbin home seemed hopeful, and the general expressed his wishes for a speedy recovery. A day after establishing his new headquarters, however, Jackson received the awful news: his little friend Janie had suddenly died.

Stonewall Jackson - the great and mighty warrior whose hammer-like blows had driven the enemy from so many fields of fire - wept aloud. Then he unashamedly knelt and took his burdens to the Lord in prayer. Such was his way. Within a few months, it would also be time for Stonewall Jackson to “cross over the river….”

Merry Christmas
and a
Joyous and Happy New Year

Union and West End Cemetery Association

Seasons Greetings #1

2006-12-22T12:32:00.000-05:00

December 1862
Limited Edition Print
Mort Künstler

It was a side of mighty “Stonewall” Jackson known only to a few. For a fleeting time in 1863, Jackson’s inner heart was revealed to all who were in his presence. In the winter of 1862-63, Jackson made his headquarters at Moss Neck Plantation on Virginia’s Rappahannock River. The plantation was owned by Richard and Roberta Corbin, who had a young daughter named Janie, known for her friendly, delightful personality. While visiting with Janie’s parents, Jackson and the child developed an endearing friendship — encouraged, perhaps, by the fact that Jackson had a newly-born daughter he had not yet seen or by the barren conditions of Jackson’s own childhood.

Jackson oversaw the writing of battle reports, took the lead in promoting religious activity inside his corps, and became almost an adopted father to five-year-old Corbin. The child visited Jackson’s office daily. In the attention he gave her was the love and yearning he felt for the infant daughter he had not yet seen.

Jackson willingly put aside his duties whenever Janie appeared at his headquarters. He laughed and played with the child —much to the surprise of officers and troops who knew only the formal, professional demeanor of “Stonewall” Jackson. Little Janie’s visit became the daily routine that brightened the famous warrior’s days. In March, when the looming spring campaign drew Jackson and his troops away from Moss Neck, he paid a farewell call on his five-year-old friend, only to learn that she was stricken with scarlet fever. He was reassured by her mother, who cited the doctor’s predictions for a rapid recovery.

The story of Jackson’s tender, cheerful moments with delightful little Janie Corbin would remain as enduring evidence of “Stonewall” Jackson, the man.

Merry Christmas
and a
Joyous and Happy New Year

Union and West End Cemetery Association

Chancellorsville

2006-12-21T20:03:00.000-05:00

In early 1863, following the disaster at Fredericksburg, President Lincoln replaced Gen. Ambrose Burnside with Gen. Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker, a Massachusetts native. Gen. Hooker was a professional soldier of long standing experience who had proved himself a capable commander in the army's big battles of 1862. Gen. Hooker got his nickname through a copyright error. It seems an Associated Press dispatch to newspapers headlined "Fighting - Joe Hooker and was mistakenly printed as "Fighting Joe Hooker." It stuck because it suited his brash, outspoken manner.

Hooker aligned himself with the 'Radical Republicans', who were among President Lincoln's fiercest critics, and he shared their hatred of the South. "May God have mercy on Robert E. Lee," he once vowed, "for I shall have none." Gen. Hooker's character often came into question. He allowed so many "camp followers" to set up shop near his headquarters that for ages to come prostitutes would be known as "hookers."

Gen. Hooker's plan to flank Gen. Lee's forces called for a three pronged movement. The main force would move up along the Rappahannock River, cross at well-known fords, and concentrate on Lee's left flank at a crossroads known as Chancellorsville. Chancellorsville consisted of a large brick tavern named Chancellorsville which dominated the intersection of the Orange Turnpike with the Orange Plank, Ely's Ford, and River roads. "This is splendid," exulted one of Hooker's corps commanders, "Hurrah for Old Joe." A second force would cross the river at Fredericksburg in a demonstration designed to divert Lee's attention from the main attack. Meanwhile a third Federal force would cross the river below Fredericksburg to envelop and crush Lee's Army when it was forced to retreat. Hooker had 130,000 troops; Lee could marshal about 60,000.

Hooker's main force reached Chancellorsville virtually unopposed. He proclaimed that "The Rebel army is now legitimate property of the Arny of the Potomac," The other Federal forces, however, were not so fortunate as they were not familiar with the topography and lacked adequate maps and therefore proceeded cautiously. Inexplicably, Gen. Hooker halted his advance on April 30th.

Lee learned that Hooker's right flank lay unprotected. Lee employed a bold plan that defied traditional military doctrine; he divided his army in the presence of a vastly superior force. He moved 15,000 troops to his front on a feint that kept Hooker's attention focused away from the exposed right flank. He then dispatched Gen. 'Stonewall' Jackson with approximately 30,000 troops to attack the exposed flank. As the Federal soldiers were settling down around their campfires for supper, Jackson's rebel force charged out of the woods.

Suddenly, a bugle rang out in the afternoon shadows. Bugles everywhere echoed the notes up and down the line. As waves of sweat-soaked soldiers rolled forward, the high defiance of the Rebel Yell pierced the gloomy woods. Jackson's Corps erupted from the trees and sent the astonished Unionists reeling. "Along the road it was pandemonium," recalled a Massachusetts soldier, "and on the side of the road it was chaos." Most of Howard's men fought bravely, drawing three additional battle lines across Jackson's path. But the over matched Federals occupied an untenable position. The screaming gray legions overwhelmed each Union stand and eventually drove the Eleventh Corps completely from the field. The Rebel charge was a sledgehammer blow that put thousands of Federal troops into a chaotic retreat. Jackson's surprise attack had shattered Hooker's army and his strategy beyond repair. Fighting would continue for another day, with even greater Union losses. Lee lost thirteen thousand troops, while inflicting about eighteen thousand casualties on the enemy.

The battle of Chancellorsville was Robert E. Lee's greatest triumph. But it was also very costly in that General Thomas Jefferson Jackson was severely wounded by one of his own pickets by mistake in the dark of night. Jackson died on May 10, 1863 if complications of his wound. "I know not how to replace him," Lee lamented.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Daily Dispatch: May 5, 1863.
Richmond, Virginia

A glorious Confederate victory.
In the language of Gen. Lee's gratifying dispatch, of the 31 of May, to President David, "We have again to thank Almighty God for a great victory." This grand and important triumph was achieved on Saturday. Gen Lee says in the beginning of his dispatch. "Yesterday Gen. Jackson penetrated to the rear of the enemy; and drove him to within one mile of Chancellorsville. This morning the battle was renewed." He (the enemy) was dislodged from all his positions around Chancellorsville and driven back towards the Rappahannock, over which he is now retreating." Many prisoners were captured. Gen. Lee states that the enemy's loss was heavy, and as he was in the act of retreating, it is to be hoped was still further to be increased. Our loss is killed and wounded, of course, must be considerable in such an engagement, but was much less than that of the enemy. The whole country will be distressed to learn that Gen. Jackson is seriously wounded. The prayers of every one in the South will go up to Heaven for his recovery, and his restoration to the country and the cause, in the field of battle.

Union and West End Cemetery

Sinkhole Part 2 - December 30, 2011

Sinkhole Photos 12-29-2011

Union and West End Cemetery - Sinkhole on 10th Street

United Way Day of Caring

Scag Tiger Cub Zero Turn Commercial Mower

5th Grade Cleveland Elementary Students in Cemetery

Eagle Scout Project

Courage Under Fire

Joseph Clauser Family

Flag Day in the Cemetery

Security for the Cemetery

Strange Happenings in the Cemetery

Memorial Day Ceremonies - May 30, 2009

Peregrine Falcon Still Close to Home

Camp Geiger

Memorial Day Ceremonies

Computer Problems

Sherman in Atlanta

Reporting the Civil War

Sherman Occupies Atlanta

Lincoln Faces Re-Election

Angel In The Cemetery

The Battle of Mobile Bay

Rodeo in the Cemetery

The Valley Campaign

"Ghost of the Cemetery, Voices from the Dead"

A Gift From the Ariens Company

Occassionally Something Stupid Happens

Civil War Re-enactment

Salute to the Allen Infantry

An Unusual Happening

A Soldiers Life

Answering the Call

Andersonville Prison

Sherman's advance on Atlanta

Ironton Elementary School Students

Memorial Day - May 30th

Memorial Day 2007

Suttler's Row

The Siege of Petersburg

Cold Harbor

A Virtual Tour of a Portion of the Cemetery

Spring Has Finally Arrived!

Spotsylvania

Tree Explodes during Nor'easter

The Wilderness Campaign

A Tree is Taken Down

General Ulysses S. Grant

Civil War the Final Year

Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum

Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum

Battle of Chattanooga

USS New York

Military Order of the Purple Heart

Abraham Lincoln

Battle Above The Clouds

Cemetery - February

Military Order of the Purple Heart

Union and West End Cemetery Association

Corporal J. Franklin Weiss

Officers / Directors Elected

Historical Cemetery

Battle of Gettysburg

Slavery in America 1619-1865

The Daily Dispatch: July 1, 1863.

Franklin Miller

Fifty-Fourth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Chew Street Across from Cemetery

10th Street Across from Cemetery

DEPLOY THE SKIRMISHERS

Charles & William Issermoyer

Seasons Greetings #2

"Divine Guidance "

Merry Christmasand aJoyous and Happy New Year

Seasons Greetings #1

Merry Christmasand aJoyous and Happy New Year

Chancellorsville

Merry Christmas
and a
Joyous and Happy New Year

Merry Christmas
and a
Joyous and Happy New Year