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272 Series I Volume XXVII-II Serial 44 - Gettysburg Campaign Part II

Page 272 N. C., Va., W. Va., MD., PA., ETC. Chapter XXXIX.

cleanest, best laid out and regulated on the ground, and the regiment the best disciplined and best appearing of any among the troops in camp . I thanked His Excellency for the compliment paid us, and believe that I had just cause to feel proud of the appearance of my command .

Thursday, 25th. - Having been placed in command of the Thirty-first brigade, comprising the Sixty- fifth and Seventy-fourth Regiment, Colonel Krettner, of the Sixty-fifth, having returned to Buffalo on account of sickness in his family, I received an order from major-general Couch to proceed the following day, at 9 a. m., to Mount Union, Pa., there to report to Colonel J. W. Hawley, Twenty-ninth Pennsylvania, commanding the post .

Friday, 26th. - The brigade, under my command, left Harrisburg by the Pennsylvania Central Railroad at 2 p. m., and arrived at Mount Union, distant 86 miles from harrisburg, at 7 p. m., where I reported to Colonel Hawley, and encamped for the night . Saturday, June 27. - I ordered five companies of the Sixty-fifth Regiment, under command of Lieutenant Colonel William F. Berens, commanding the regiment, about 5 miles distant, to Bell's Mills, near the Juniata River, there to establish his headquarters and picket the country in that region, and to protect the fords of the river . The remaining two companies of that regiment, Company A, Captain Seeber, and Company B, Captain Louis Krettner, I sent to guard a bridge across the Blue Juniate, about 2 miles distant; also the Pennsylvania canal and locks to the village of Mapletown, about 4 miles distant . There companies of the Seventy-fourth Regiment were, immediately on our arrival at Mount Union, sent out on picket at different points, distant from 2 to 4 miles, the remaining six companies held as a reserve at Mount Union . This number out during our stay, then relieved every two days until July 5. Mount Union is 86 miles from Harrisburg, on the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, which crosses the Blue Juniata River by a bridge costing over $1, 000, 000. The aqueduct of the Pennsylvania Canal also crosses this river at the same point . These structures were threatened by the enemy, and their destruction would have cut off all communication between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg ; hence this place was held to be very important, and the utmost vigilance enjoined to guard it, and at the same time avoid surprise from the enemy, on the alert, and all about us . Mount Union was occupied by the twenty-ninth Pennsylvania Militia, Colonel J. W. Hawley, who was in command of the post, and one company of cavalry, under the command of Captain [B. Mortimer] Morrow . Immediately on our arrival, five companies of the Twenty-ninth Pennsylvania were ordered to Orbisonia, Pa., about 30 miles distant . Colonel Hawley had two brass 12-pounders, sent to him by Major-General Couch, one of which was manned by picked men from my command, and placed in command of Private Edward M. Allen, an experienced artillerist and member of Company C. We were joined at Mount Union by our worthy chaplain, Rev. G. W. Heacock, D. D., and about 60 men sent to us by Adjutant [James M.] Johnson and Lieutenant Elisha T. Smith . It would be difficult to enumerate all the duties my regiment performed while at Mount Union ; officers and men were constantly on duty . No regiment could have done more or better under the circumstances . A generous spirit of rivalry pervaded the regiment as to who should be most active in the performance of duty .

July 2 . - At 7 p. m. Colonel Hawley received a telegram from


Page 272 N. C., Va., W. Va., MD., PA., ETC. Chapter XXXIX.