142nd Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry



Historical Sketch:
Cols., Robert P. Cummins, Alfred B. McCalmont, Horatio N. Warren ; Lieut.-Cols., Alfred B. McCalmont, Horatio N. Warren; Majs., John Bradley, Horatio N. Warren, Henry G. Elder. This regiment was recruited from the state at large during the summer of 1862, rendezvoused at Camp Curtin, Harrisburg, and was mustered into the U. S. service between Aug. 22 and Sept. 1 for three years. On Sept. 2, it left the state for Washington and was employed for a month on the fortifications and in guard and hospital duty at Frederick, Md. In October it was assigned to the 2nd brigade (Col. Magilton), 3d division (Gen. Meade), 1st corps (Gen. Reynolds), and moved to Brooks' station, on the Acquia Creek railroad. It suffered severely at Fredericksburg, its first battle, where it made a heroic charge, losing 243 in killed, wounded and missing, Maj. Bradley being among the mortally wounded. It went into winter quarters at Belle Plain landing and passed the winter without unusual incident, except the "Mud March" in Jan., 1863. During this interval it was assigned to a new brigade, commanded by Col. Porter and later by Gen. Rowley, the 1st brigade, 3d division, 1st corps. It went into action at Chancellorsville on May 3, on the right of the line, but was not heavily engaged and suffered but little. At Gettysburg Col. Biddle commanded the brigade, Gen. Rowley the division, and Gens. Doubleday and Newton the corps. Gen. Reynolds in command of the left wing of the army, comprising the 1st and 11th corps, being killed on the first day of the fight. In the disastrous struggle of that day, Col. Cummins was killed and the regiment suffered severely. Retiring through the town to the cemetery, it was in reserve the second day, and on the third was posted midway between the cemetery and Round Top, where it was exposed to the heavy artillery fire, but suffered little from the grand infantry charge. It lost in the battle, 3 officers killed, 11 wounded, 2 missing: 10 men killed, 117 wounded, 68 captured or missing, a total of 211. After the battle it shared with its corps in the futile campaigns of the fall, ending at Mine run, and wintered in the vicinity of Culpeper. Throughout the rest of its service the regiment was commanded by Col. Warren. In the campaign of 1864 it was assigned to Stone's brigade, 1st division, 5th corps; was engaged with heavy loss at the Wilderness; and was active at Laurel hill, Spottsylvania, the North Anna river, Bethesda Church, Totopotomy, Cold Harbor, and in the first assaults on Petersburg. It assisted in the construction of the redoubt known as "Fort Hell;" was engaged at Six-mile house and Peebles' farm; was in the second raid on the Weldon railroad in December; and participated in the action at Dabney's mill in Feb., 1865. On the opening of the final campaign it was in action on the Boydton and White Oak roads, and the following day fought at Five Forks, where its losses were severe, Col. Warren and Maj. Elder being wounded. After Lee's surrender it proceeded to Burkesville, and two weeks later to the vicinity of Washington, where it was mustered out of service on May 29, 1865. Roster:
The Roster of this unit contains the names of 1242 men.
Source:
The Union Army by Federal Publishing Company, 1908 - Volume 1
Bibliography:
  • Barcousky, Len. Civil War Pittsburgh: Forge of the Union. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2013. ISBN 9781626190818.
  • Blair, William and William Pencak, editors. Making and Remaking Pennsylvania's Civil War. University Park, Pennsylvania: Penn State University Press, 2004.
  • Fox, Arthur B. Our Honored Dead: Alleghany County, Pennsylvania, in the American Civil War. Chicora, Pennsylvania: Mechling Bookbindery, 2008.
  • Fox, Arthur B. Pittsburgh During the American Civil War 1860–1865. Chicora, Pennsylvania: Mechling Bookbindery, 2002.
  • Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce. Southern Revenge: Civil War History of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Chambersburg, Pennsylvania: Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce, 1989.
  • Miller, William J. The Training of an Army: Camp Curtin and the North's Civil War. Shippensburg, Pennsylvania: White Mane, 1990.
  • Sandou, Robert M. Deserter County: Civil War Opposition in the Pennsylvania Appalachians. Fordham University Press, 2009.
  • Skinner, George W., ed. Pennsylvania at Chickamauga and Chattanooga: Ceremonies at the Dedication of the Monuments Erected by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Wm. Stanley Ray, State Printer, 1897.
  • Taylor, Frank H. Philadelphia in the Civil War. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The City, 1913.
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