, served from August of 1862 until May of 1863, a 9 month term, and selected the motto In God We Trust
. Led by Colonel Jacob Higgins less than six weeks after being recruited in Blair
, Cambria
and Huntindgon
Counties, the Regiment fought at the Battle of Antietam
. The Regiment was noted for its charge through the East Woods, along the Cornfield down Smoketown Road, past the Dunker Church, and into the West Woods. While in formation beyond the Dunker Church, the Regiment received most of its 229 casualties (33% of engaged) within 20 minutes but retreated with its colors intact. Two weeks before the end of their enlistment, the 125th PA also occupied the perimeter of Chancellorsville, Virginia, during the Battle of Chancellorsville
.
Composition
As the Civil War extended into its second year, President Abraham Lincoln appealed nationally for 300,000 additional men on July 1, 1862, and in response on July 21, Governor A. G. Curtin called for 21 new regiments from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with nine month enlistments. Four regiments were expected from Blair and Huntingdon Counties, and the 125th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers was recruited as ten companies from late July through early August:| Company | Primary Location of Recruitment, County | Earliest Captain |
|---|---|---|
| A | Tyrone, Blair | Francis M. Bell |
| B | Williamsburg, Blair | Ulyses L. Hewit |
| C | Huntingdon, Huntingdon, Also known as the "Bible Company". |
William W. Wallace, coiner, circa August 1862, of motto "In God We Trust". |
| D | Altoona, Blair | Christian Hostetter |
| E | East Freedom, Blair | William McGraw |
| F | Broad Top Region, Huntingdon | John J. Lawrence |
| G | Hollidaysburg, Blair | John McKeage |
| H | Huntingdon, Huntingdon | D. McM. Gregg |
| I | Huntingdon, Huntingdon | William F. Thomas |
| K | Altoona, Blair (with approximately half from Cambria County) |
Joseph W. Gardner |
The great majority had no previous military experience and came from all walks of life. Although the draft would come to Pennsylvania in September, the members of the 125th enlisted earlier and primarily for "patriotic motives."
Campaigns
Battle of Antietam(1st Div, 1st Brigade)
Mud March
(1st Div, 2nd Brigade)
Battle of Chancellorsville
(2nd Div, 2nd Brigade)
Battle of Antietam
After mustering at Harrisburg, the regiment was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, XII Corps in the Army of the Potomacwhile they trained at Washington, D.C. They marched from Washington to Frederick to Sharpsburg in response to the Confederate Army's crossing of the Potomac River into Maryland. Less than six weeks after mustering, with a minimum of training, and without combat experience they entered the Battle.
Early on the morning of September 17, 1862, while forming line of battle east of Smoketown road and 250 yards north of the East Woods, they observed a mortally-wounded General Mansfield (Commander, XII Corps) as he returned on his horse from a forward reconnaissance position. Three members of the 125th PA (Coho, Edmundson, & Rudy, along with two others) helped him from his horse, carried him to the rear on a chair formed from muskets, and turned him over to a surgeon.
After a delay for re-organization, the 125th PA moved forward to support Monroe's First Rhode Island Battery (I Corps, 1 Div) catty-corner across the intersection of Smoketown Road and Hagerstown Pike at about 8:45. They are detached from the XII Corps, 1st Division, and standing with Tyndale's and Stainbrook's Brigades of Greene's 2nd Division (XII), and Confederates have temporarily withdrawn from the West Woods.
By 9:00 they have moved 100 yards farther ahead but remain the lone Union element in the West Woods. By about 9:15 as the Confederates counter-attack, the 34th NY (II,2) has arrived to the 125th PA's rear, the 7th MI (II,2) has arrived remotely to the 125th PA's right, and Sumner's (II Corps) "Disaster in the West Woods" has begun.
Receiving heavy fire from Kershaw's Brigade of McLaw's Division under Longstreet and Early's brigade of Ewell's Division under Stonewall Jackson, the outnumbered 125th PA and 34th NY resisted for a few more minutes, sustained a very high rate of casualties, and were finally forced to retreat. Sensing a rout, the Confederates followed the retreating regiments and continued to administer fire until Union artillery elements stalled their pursuit. The 125th PA remained with Monroe's Battery (now re-positioned near the intersection of Smoketown Road and Mumma Farm Lane) until the end of the Battle.
Battle Analysis
In his memoirs General William T. Sherman decried a systematic problem which the 125th PA fell prey to at Antietam, along with many other Regiments in their initial battles:
- The greatest mistake in our civil war was in the mode of recruitment and promotion. When a regiment became reduced by the necessary wear and tear of service, instead of being filled up at the bottom, and the vacancies among the officers filled from the best non-commissioned officers and men, the habit was to raise new regiments, with new colonels, captains, and men, leaving the old and experienced battalions to dwindle away into mere skeleton organizations.
Significantly, Antietam was the last battle fought in the east without the construction of field fortifications, although naturally-occurring features, such as the Sunken Road and the quarry holes above the Burnside Bridge, were exploited as rifle pits. Three months after Antietam at Fredericksburg, several of Longstreet's divisions fought behind breastworks, and eight months after Antietam at Chancellorsville, both armies constructed hasty fortifications at every opportunity.
Battlefield monument
The 125th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Monument on the Antietam Battlefield was dedicated on September 17, 1904, and is located on Confederate Avenue behind (West) of the Dunker Church. During the 125th PA's withdrawal from the indicated position in the West Woods, one of the most dramatic events in the regiment's history began with the regimental color-bearer, Sergeant George Simpson who stands immortalized in granite on top of the monument:- After receiving a bullet to the brain, Simpson fell on the flag and stained it with blood oozing from his right temple. Corporal Eugene Boblitz of Company H grabbed the colors and was soon felled with a leg wound that crippled him for life. Several other soldiers were shot trying to save the colors. Finally, Sergeant W.W. Greenland snatched up the bloodstained banner and passed it on to Captain William Wallace, who used it to rally the regiment. About 200 men formed in line, and about 60 gathered around the much-contested colors in protection. In the twenty-first century, there is often much debate over how we treat the flag. In the Civil War, there was none. Many soldiers were willing to give their lives for that flag.
| Location | Text |
|---|---|
| Foot of Statue | GEORGE A. SIMPSON KILLED AT ANTIETAM |
| Front Bronze Plaque | PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY 1ST BRIGADE 1ST DIVISION 12TH CORPS RECRUITED IN BLAR HUNTINGDON AND CAMBRIA COUNTIES PENNA. |
| Left Side Bronze Plaque | ON FARM OF GEORGE LINE TO EAST WOODS NEAR POINT WHERE GEN. J.K.F. MANSFIELD WAS MORTALLY WOUNDED FROM THERE TO SUPPOR T MONROE'S FIRST RHODE ISLAND BATTERY ON SMOKETOWN ROAD THEN TO WOODS THAT STOOD HERE SEPTEMBER 17 1862. WAS THE FIRST UNION REGIMENT THEREIN BEING FAR ADVANCED AND WITHOUT SUFFICIENT SUPPORT IT WAS OUTFLANKED BY THE ENEMY AND RETIRED BEHIND BATTERIES IN FIELD IN REAR AND SUBSEQUENTLY SAVED THE GUNS OF MONROE'S BATTERY FROM CAPTURE. REMAINED IN LINE UNTIL CLOSE OF BATTLE MONUMENT IS NEAR THE LEFT OF ITS MAIN LINE OF BATTLE. LOSS AT ANTIETAM KILLED AND DIED OF WOUNDS 54 SERIOUSLY WOUNDED 91 SLIGHTLY WOUNDED AND NOT REPORTED 84 [TOTAL] 229 |
Mud March
By October 30, 1862, the 125th PA had been re-assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division (XII Corps) under Brigadier General Thomas L. Kane and newly positioned at Loudon Heights, VA, near Harper's Ferry, for extended drilling. Departing on December 10, one leg of the 125th PA's march toward Fredericksburg was brilliantly fortunate (avoiding Burnside's signature disastor), but the second leg coincided with Burnside's fatal act of futility, the Mud March
.
Escorting the XII Corps' train of ammunition wagons from Dumfries (January 20) to Stafford Courthouse (January 24), the 125th PA endured the same days of heavy rain which stalled the movement of the Army's Center Grand Divsion (III and V Corps) toward Banks' Ford. All participants in the Mud March
moved very slowly or became stuck fast, and Burnside's aspirations for success at Fredericksburg expired with his command.
Battle of Chancellorsville
Constructing effective breastworks near the Chancellor Mansion and Tavern at the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Regimental losses were limited (5 killed, 12 wounded, and 10 captured). Stonewall Jackson's famous 'Flanking Maneuver' avoided the trap of breastworks placed by the III, XI and XII Corps and led to an attack on the XI Corps' rear.
May 1
While Hooker still maintained the initiative, he commanded a three-pronged eastward thrust. The 1st & 3rd Divisions of the V Corps (Meade) advanced along River Road, the 2nd Division (Sykes) advanced along the Turnpike, and the entirety of the XII Corps (Slocum) advanced along the Plank Road. One mile out, Slocum (XII Corps, including the 125th PA) encountered a Confederate picket post and reacted cautiously by deploying his two divisions in line of battle, one Division on each side of Plank Road. Advancing slowly for the next half mile in this formation, the XII Corps had just emerged onto high ground at the Alrich farm, favorable for an offensive, when a Hooker emissary, Colonel Joseph Dicksinson, reported the advance far short of objective and already engaging the enemy at about 1:30 p.m.
Simultaneously, Hooker received unfavorable reports about the progress of Sykes (V-2)(east of Chancellorsville on the Turnpike) and Sedgwick (VI)(east of Fredericksburg). Meade's (V) 1st & 3rd Divisions were advancing unimpeded toward a strategic imperative, occupation of Bank's Ford on the Rappahannock River; nonetheless, Hooker called a halt to all operations and ordered a retreat into defensive positions around Chancellorsville. Thereby, the initiative had been lost for the remainder of the Battle.