With the 139th Pennsylvania at Second Fredericksburg and Salem Church

                                                               Five Days at Chancellorsville

 Lieutenant Samuel Schoyer of the 139th Pennsylvania took understandable pride in the achievements of his division during the Chancellorsville campaign, particularly its seizure of Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg on May 3, 1863. 

    "At 2 o’clock, our single division (General Newton’s) had taken possession of all the heights around Fredericksburg, the same that our army of 100,000 men failed to take last winter," he wrote to a relative. "Up to this time, our loss in the regiment was only one man killed and six wounded. Such yelling and cheering I never before heard. Hooker was cheered, Sedgwick, the commander of the 6th Corps and the immediate commander of the expedition, was cheered, and then Newton came in for three missing ones. The key to Richmond had been gained and every person felt in good spirits."

    But as Schoyer soon learned, the fortunes of war proved fickle, and within two nights he counted himself lucky to be back safely on the eastern bank of the Rappahannock, with Fredericksburg again firmly in Confederate hands. Lieutenant Schoyer's account of the Chancellorsville campaign, written shortly after he arrived back in camp, first saw publication in the May 13, 1863, edition of the Daily Pittsburgh Gazette, his hometown newspaper. 

Detail of a company picture of the 139th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry likely taken at Brandy Station, Virginia in the spring of 1864. Note the 6th Corps cross badge emblems upon their headgear; originally, the 6th Corps wore a St. Andrew's cross shaped corps badge which was changed to a Greek cross in 1864. Ordnance records show that the Pennsylvanians carried .69 caliber Model 1842 rifled muskets through the Chancellorsville and Gettysburg campaigns, not swapping over to .58 caliber Model 1861 Springfield rifle muskets until sometime in the second quarter of 1864. Most of the soldiers in this photo are carrying M1842s but the corporal at left is most likely carrying a M1861 Springfield. 

Camp near Banks’ Ford, Virginia

May 7, 1863

          My good fortune continued throughout and I am now as well as if I had never seen a “Reb.” My letter to B. gave an account of our movements on this side of the river which we all strategic. I will now tell what was done on the other side.

          At 8 o’clock Saturday night [May 2, 1863], we crossed the pontoons and moved back from the river about a mile. We rested at this point until midnight when we started on the expedition of capturing Fredericksburg first, and then the heights at the rear of the town. Colonel Alexander Shaler’s brigade took the advance and took the town with considerable loss, driving the Rebs into their strongholds.

The enemy had arranged for our reception, having dammed up the Rappahannock at a point near the town with machinery so arranged that in five minutes time the city could have been overflowed and the U.S. Army effectually washed out. This plan was discovered by a Negro Lieutenant Frank Goodin took while he was out skirmishing. General John Newton, as soon as Lieutenant Goodin told him, had the dammed river fixed so that it could not injure us.

Major General John Newton
Commanding Third Div., 6th A.C.

At 4 o’clock, we reached the rear of the town and were received with a terrible volley of musketry. At 5 a.m., we moved to the support of our batteries which were about 200 yards from the Rebel works. Here we laid until 11 o’clock between two of our batteries and in good range of the Rebel artillery. Such noises I never heard before! At one time, I had become almost completely deaf from the 20-pounders going over my head and so near to them that I could feel the concussion.

At 10 a.m., it was determined to storm the enemy’s works which were so many Sebastopals. The first and strongest work was a hill on the top of which were built earthworks in which were mounted six pieces of artillery. At the base of the hill was a stone wall 2-1/2 feet thick, about three feet in height, and long enough to put a thousand shooters in which you may bet was done by our Southern brethren. This hill was surrounded by others of the same description, excepting the stone wall.

At 10 o’clock, our batteries opened a terrible fire under cover of which the 82nd Pennsylvania and another regiment marched forward, subjected to the most galling fire. Our men never halted, and with half the number of men they started with, they took the stone wall and at half past 1 o’clock, our flag was planted on the hill. One height after another fell into our hands, but each holding out as long as possible and each making a terrible resistance. At 2 o’clock, our single division (General Newton’s) had taken possession of all the heights around Fredericksburg, the same that our army of 100,000 men failed to take last winter.

Up to this time, our loss in the regiment was only one man killed and six wounded. Such yelling and cheering I never before heard. Hooker was cheered, Sedgwick, the commander of the 6th Corps and the immediate commander of the expedition, was cheered, and then Newton came in for three missing ones. The key to Richmond had been gained and every person felt in good spirits.

The 139th Pennsylvania was part of Brigadier General Frank Wheaton's Third Brigade of Major General John Newton's Third Division of the 6th Army Corps. The regiment's officers could have worn  chasseur-style kepis like this fine example above from the Horse Soldier complete with a blue corps badge indicating this kepi belonged to an officer in the Third Division, 6th Corps. 

We rested a few minutes then started forward, leaving General Albion Howe with the Second Division in possession of the heights along Richmond Pike leading to Chancellorsville where we expected to form a junction with Hooker. Having gone about three or four miles on this road, when a slight obstacle to our further progress arose in the shape of a hill and a dense wood, well filled with Rebels. It was here we fought from 3 p.m. till dark and the heaviest infantry fight that had occurred during the war.

It was here that the 139th Pennsylvania distinguished itself. We were led in by Colonel Frederick Collier, under the most discouraging circumstances. Two old regiments broke and were being pursued by the enemy. The confusion was terrible. The flying regiments rushed through our boys, breaking our ranks, and I said to myself, “It’s all up with us.” But not so. The boys rushed into the Rebs and drove them back into the woods faster than they came out. I never saw men stick up as they did. The old regiments cheered us vociferously and we double quicked over to the woods. The Rebs did not make their appearance again that night.

Colonel Frederick Hill Collier, 139th Pennsylvania and his wife Catherine. 

We saved our batteries and won the day. A prouder man than Colonel Collier I never saw, and he had reason to be proud. Generals Sedgwick and Newton complimented us. Our loss was light, but we just slaughtered the enemy. From the prisoners we took we learned that they would have captured our batteries “had it not been for that regiment of sharpshooters,” meaning the 139th. Lieutenant James Harbison of Co. D was killed, received two balls in the brain. He was in front of his company, waving his sword, and encouraging his men. There were 10 men killed and 42 wounded. The reason for our slight loss was the steady fire we poured in, scarcely giving the enemy a chance to stand up and fire. Sergeant Thompson was wounded slightly in the thigh and was the only one wounded in my company.

I’d like to give you an idea of the villainous sounds that musket balls make, but don’t know anything that comes near it. I tell you, I never felt so well in my life as I did last Sunday evening when we marched victoriously off the battlefield. The regiment had established its reputation.

Another portion of the company portrait of the 139th Pennsylvania showing the two drummers and one of the company officers standing at right. The 139th entered service in September 1862 and would see action from Antietam to Appomattox, spending most of its service as part of the 6th Army Corps. Captain Schoyer was wounded at least three times during his service, the last wound at Cold Harbor shattering his ankle. He kept his foot but suffered intense pain for the rest of his life. 

On Monday morning [May 4, 1863] it was evident to us all that the enemy had received large reinforcements and we also felt that Sedgwick had gone too far. Every person felt anxious and the Generals on the field looked terribly so. The morning was spent disposing of our small force, having only one corps to hold the heights and the road for five miles to the southwest.

Our regiment was still kept in the front and detached from the brigade. At 3 p.m., the fight again commenced on our left and raged for an hour or more, at the end of which time the loud cheering of the Rebels proclaimed to use on the right that they had flanked us and regained the heights. Our position was critical in the extreme, having but one road by way of Banks’ Ford to escape as every other outlet was cut off.

At dark, we commenced our retreat, drawing in our pickets. We had got but ten minutes start on the enemy when they were after us, cheering and yelling like so many devils. Then began the race. Our men had the disadvantage of having heavy knapsacks but we made it and got to the river in safety. There we were drawn up into line and waited to receive the Rebels, but they didn’t come, contenting themselves with shelling us.

A cavalry column moves away from a pontoon bridge across the Rappahannock River. The 6th Corps fell back across a similar pontoon bridge at Banks' Ford overnight from May 4-5, 1863, taking up the bridge in the wee hours of the morning of the 5th. With this action, the Chancellorsville campaign came to a close, another Union defeat. 

We reached this side of the river in safety at 4 a.m. and hauled up the pontoons. The larger portion of the 102nd Pennsylvania was captured, along with Lieutenant Colonel John W. Patterson, Captain Orlando Loomis, Lieutenant Andrew Moreland, and one or two other officers whom I forget. The regiment lost their colors, too. [Colonel Joseph M. Kinkead of the 102nd reported that “Our regimental colors were missing when we arrived at the lines, and the only corporal of the color-guard who escaped with us reported that they had been delivered to a sergeant of Company I, 8th

Pennsylvania Cavalry. They have not yet been found, but I feel confident did not fall into the hands of the enemy.”]

If any inquiries are made by the friends of the boys of my company, tell them they are well and fought like devils. Every fellow took deliberate aim and brought a Rebel down. They went at it as if they were shooting squirrels and it was really interesting to see the poor Rebs jump four or five feet into the air then fall.

Lieutenant Goodin is a splendid fellow. We presented him with a sword costing $47, the most elegant one in the division. We gave it to him just before we reached Fredericksburg. [Second Lieutenant Samuel] Harper is a good fellow, too.

Yours affectionately,

Samuel C. Schoyer, Co. G, 139th Penn. Vols. 

To learn more about the 6th Corps at Fredericksburg, please check out these posts:

A Tornado of Shot and Shell: Storming Marye's Heights at Second Fredericksburg

To Die or Conquer: The 6th Vermont at Second Fredericksburg

Gulping Down the Disaster: The 119th Pennsylvania at Salem Church

Late-war issued national colors that belonged to the 139th Pennsylvania Volunteers. 

Lieutenant Schoyer would survive the war, rising to the rank of captain, but suffering several wounds and eventually being discharged for disability on May 6, 1865. “He was severely wounded in a skirmish just before Gettysburg and was on that account detailed for the recruiting service in Pittsburgh, but reclined to leave his command when in the presence of the enemy and in spite of his wounds performed all his duties during the famous three-day fight,” his obituary stated. “In the Wilderness he was knocked senseless by a bullet that struck him in the side but fortunately hit his revolver. At Cold Harbor, he was seriously wounded by a rifle ball passing through his instep and shattering the ankle bone. He declined to have the limb amputated and for years suffered terribly from the effects of the wound. A general remark of his comrades when informed of his death was that no braver man was in the Army of the Potomac than Captain Samuel Schoyer.”

          Schoyer returned to Pittsburgh and to his law practice, eventually serving as a solicitor for several of Pittsburgh’s largest banks and earning a reputation as an able attorney. He married Lizzie Preston in 1873 and had three children, two boys and a girl. “Captain Schoyer’s home life was particularly happy, for he was a tender, loving husband, and a kind, indulgent father.” He was also remembered by his colleagues for his sunny disposition despite the constant and debilitating pain he suffered from his war wounds. Captain Schoyer died of spinal sclerosis in his home in Pittsburgh on February 11, 1890, at the age of 49 and is buried at Allegheny Cemetery. In 1986, one of his descendants, William T. Schoyer, published The Road to Cold Harbor, a 118-page book featuring Captain Schoyer’s 1864 field diary.

Sources:

Letter from First Lieutenant Samuel Chadwick Schoyer, Co. G, 139th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Daily Pittsburgh Gazette (Pennsylvania), May 13, 1863, pg. 3

“Samuel Chadwick Schoyer: Life Sketch of the Soldier and Barrister,” Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pennsylvania), February 13, 1890, pg. 3


Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

Arming the Buckeyes: Longarms of the Ohio Infantry Regiments

Image
     A common question that comes up in conversation about Civil War Buckeye regiments is "What were they armed with?" We are fortunate in that the state of Ohio kept good records of how the regiments were armed when they went into service, this being especially true for those regiments which went into service in 1861 and 1862. The state adjutant general's reports for 1861 and 1862 have been heavily drawn upon to construct this article, as well as consultation with Phil Spaugy who has done extensive research on how Ohio's troops were armed during the war.      Buckeyes carried a fairly wide variety of weapons into the field, and the below article breaks this down into weapons of both domestic manufacture and imported arms. The early days of the war found the state of Ohio practically bereft of longarms; as an example, when the 1st and 2nd Ohio Volunteer Militia left the state in late April 1861, they left unarmed, being armed at Lancaster, Pennsylvania on their way to
Read more

Bullets for the Union: Manufacturing Small Arms Ammunition During the Civil War

Image
       Civil War bullets are perhaps the most common item collected from the era; the two armies expended bullets by the millions during the four years’ conflict and spent or deformed bullets of all shapes and sizes have made fascinating and affordable collectibles since the guns went silent in 1865.       I recently acquired a display piece featuring 35 different types of small arms ammunition used during the Civil War, including everything from a small .28 caliber ball up to a .69 caliber three-ring Minie and it triggered some questions: how did the Federal army obtain its small arms ammunition during the war? Where did the lead come from to make the bullets, and where and how was the ammunition manufactured? This post seeks to answer those questions. A typical .58 caliber 3-ring Minie bullet   “Whenever the blasts of war blow in the ears of men who trade in the implements of destruction, they are apt to experience more joy than the true warrior, for then comes the harvest of gain.
Read more

Dressing the Rebels: How to Dye Butternut Jeans Cloth

Image
     In the early days of the Civil War,  the Southern states found themselves with an abundance of cotton but a shortage of cloth with which to make army uniforms. The trade in cloth prior to the war had largely been to send raw cotton or wool north to New England (or Great Britain) where it was converted into usable cloth; but now that trade was broken and the Southern states were thrown upon their own resources in their efforts to properly clothe the Confederate army.  This collection of Confederate enlisted men's frock coats and shell jackets gives some indication of the variety of shades of butternut worn during the war. All of them are shades of yellow brown, some heavier on the yellow and some heavier on the brown. The blue used around the collar or as rank insignia indicates that the soldier was in the infantry. Surviving Confederate uniforms are considered rather rare and command quite a healthy price in the collecting market. For an in-depth study of how Confederate jacke
Read more

The Wizard of Oz and the Civil War

Image
T he 1939 film The Wizard of Oz has delighted viewers for 85 years and ranks as a personal favorite, especially during the Halloween season. While watching it with the family the other night, I wondered if there were any connections between the film and the Civil War. Not surprisingly, the answer is yes and those connections touch both the blue and the gray.           Interestingly both “witches” in the film not only had Civil War ancestors but had connections with Civil War soldiers from Ohio. Margaret Hamilton, the “Wicked Witch of the West,” was born in Cleveland, Ohio on December 9, 1902, to attorney Walter Jones Hamilton and his wife Mary Jane Adams; Margaret’s grandfather was Judge Edwin Timothy Hamilton. Judge Hamilton had served as a private in Co. D of the 84 th Ohio Infantry during the summer of 1862. The 84 th Ohio, a three months’ regiment, served nearly the whole of its service attached to the Railroad District in western Maryland, performing provost duty at Cumberlan
Read more

The Vaunted Enfield Rifle Musket

Image
     The English-made Model 1853 .577 caliber Enfield Rifle Musket was widely regarded as the best infantry arm in the world at the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861. Favorable international press describing its efficiency in the Crimean War and in suppressing the Indian rebellion led to the widespread desire of American infantrymen (both Federal and Confederate) to be armed with these accurate and well-made arms. The lock plate of this well-worn P1853 Enfield rifle musket produced in 1862 shows the typical markings of a British-made weapon that made it through the Federal blockade.  ( Army of Tennessee Relics ) Enfield-pattern weapons were imported into the states by the tens and hundreds of thousands during the war years; one estimate stated that the Federal government purchased 500,000 while the Confederates purchased another 400,000. The Confederate government dispatched Captain Caleb Huse to Europe in April 1861 to purchase weapons and Huse focused on securing all the Enfi
Read more

In front of Atlanta with the 68th Ohio

Image
  The arrow corps badge of the 17th Army Corps was worn by many members of the 68th Ohio in the latter days of the war.       Private Edward A. Bigelow of Co. F of the 68th Ohio Volunteer Infantry wrote this brief account of the Battle of Atlanta just two days afterwards to his father back home in Henry County, Ohio. The regiment formed a part of Colonel Robert K. Scott's three regiment all-Ohio brigade consisting of the 20th, 68th, and 78th regiments, being designated the Second Brigade of the Third Division of Frank Blair's 17th Army Corps. Bigelow's letter originally appeared in the Napoleon Press newspaper and was copied in the Toledo Daily Commercial which was providential as no known copies exist today of the wartime Napoleon Press.  
Read more

Charging Battery Robinett: An Alabama Soldier Recalls the Vicious Fighting at Corinth

Image
W riting 30 years after the Battle of Corinth, James A. McKinstry of the 42 nd Alabama recalled his experiences storming Battery Robinett with Colonel William P. Rogers of the 2 nd Texas and expressed guilt that it was perhaps his action that brought about the colonel’s demise. “On seeing a line of Federals approaching, and before giving the situation a thought, I immediately raised my gun and fired full into the breast of a Federal sergeant, who was in front of the column, and only a short distance from us.  'Twas then that Captain George Foster shouted, "Cease firing, men! cease firing!" and waved his handkerchief, then I realized the true situation. 'Twas too late! That fatal volley had been turned on our little band from the muzzles of 1,500 muskets. I was still standing just as I was when I fired my last shot, and within a few feet of Colonel Rogers, when a Minie ball went crashing through my left hip and turned me half round; another went tearing through my
Read more

Federal Arms in the Stones River Campaign

Image
  T he following list, constructed after many years of research, lists unit by unit which type of weapons were carried by the Army of the Cumberland during the Stones River campaign. A number of sources were consulted including state ordnance reports, Federal quarterly ordnance reports (thank you Research Arsenal ), Ken Baumann’s Arming the Suckers, regimental histories and memoirs, captured ordnance reports, and consultation with knowledgeable experts in the field of firearms. Some of this information has been shared on the blog before in “ Rosy’s Heavy Metal: Artillery of the Army of the Cumberland ” or “ Shoulder Arms: How Sheridan’s and Davis’s Divisions Were Armed at Stones River ” but this is the first time the army as a whole has been presented. The overall conclusion I drew from looking at this data is that the Army of the Cumberland in December 1862 was an organization in the midst of transformation as far as arms. Many of the regiments still retained their original issue
Read more

Cook & Brother of New Orleans

Image
    The lockplate of a New Orleans-made Cook & Brother Enfield rifle produced in 1862 shows the fine craftsmanship that became the hallmark of the maker throughout the Civil War. Note the stars and bars flag at left, an emblem used on C&B's production throughout the war and the Cook & Brother, N.O. 1862 markings. Earlier production weapons at New Orleans had the flag located just above the maker's name while later weapons produced in Athens, Georgia would have a modified flag and Athens on the plate followed by the serial number.        In the spring of 1861, two English-born businessmen, Ferdinand and Francis Cook of New Orleans, perceived the need for the South to have its own domestic production of firearms and  set out to prove "that rifles could made here as well as in Yankee land or in Europe." The brothers  elected to produce copies of the British Model 1853 .577 caliber Enfield rifle as this was considered the benchmark longarm at the outset of the
Read more

Revisiting Snodgrass Hill: Memories of a 21st Ohio Officer

Image
Captain Isaac Cusac, Co. G, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry proudly displaying his rank as captain in an image likely dating from early 1863. One of his shoulder straps was shot off in the final stages of the 21st Ohio's fight atop Snodgrass Hill on September 20, 1863. Cusac brought it back to Chickamauga 50 years later.  I n September 1913, 83-year-old Isaac Cusac, a retired Presbyterian minister from the little town of McComb, Ohio, returned to Chattanooga to attend the national G.A.R. encampment. The former captain of the 21 st Ohio returned to Snodgrass Hill on the old Chickamauga battlefield on the 50 th anniversary of the battle carrying with him a precious relic of his wartime experiences. “He carried with him there an epaulet that was shot from his shoulder at the battle,” it was reported. “The bullet clipped off the epaulet and then struck him on the left hand, injuring two fingers.”           The flood of memories as he walked the grounds must have been overwhelming. The f
Read more