≡ Menu

Pennsylvania

This page contains a list of regimental histories, diaries, letters, and other documents for Pennsylvania  regiments which participated in the Petersburg Campaign.  These books are organized by regiment.  If you know of a book not listed here, please use the Contact form and let us know!

***

{ 10 comments… add one }
  • Todd Leiss June 24, 2011, 12:15 am

    There are two great books on the 88th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry who participated in the Petersburg Siege:

    The Campfire Chronicles: The Words and Deeds of the 88th Pennsylvania by Major Michael N. Ayoub
    http://www.amazon.com/Campfire-Chronicles-Words-Pennsylvania-1861-1865/dp/1441594388

    and

    History of the 88th Pennsylvania Volunteers by John D. Vautier
    http://www.amazon.com/History-Pennsylvania-Volunteers-Union-1861-1865/dp/1112135561/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308892377&sr=1-2

    Both are great books. My GGG Grandfather, Aaron Bright, Jr was the acting regimental commander in Feb 1865.

    Thanks,

    Todd Leiss

  • bschulte June 24, 2011, 8:16 am

    Todd,

    Thank you very much for the comment and the book mentions. I can see that you have a very personal connection to the 88th, and this site was created in part to find people like you who may be able to help me fill in gaps in my knowledge. I knew of Vautier’s book, but did not yet have Major Ayoub’s volume listed in my spreadsheet. I’ve gone ahead and updated this and it should be available at some point in the future on its own page.

    Brett

  • Todd Leiss June 24, 2011, 11:00 am

    Thanks Brett, I will definately be spending quite a bit of time exploring your website and see if I can add anything. I’m sure with all you have I’ll learn a ton. Major Ayoub is also a descendant of a 88th PVI Veteran, Charles McKnight who provides a great deal of firsthand insight in The Campfire Chronicles.

    Todd

  • bschulte June 24, 2011, 11:48 am

    You’re welcome Todd. If you have any items you think I can use pertaining to the 88th Pennsylvania don’t hesitate to send them my way. I want to use this site to study, and just as importantly to help others study, the Siege of Petersburg at a level of detail it has not received to date.

    I wondered whether Major Ayoub was a descendant of an 88th veteran. The author blurb at Amazon mentioned the large number of his ancestors who fought in various American wars through the years so it’s natural to conclude he probably had an ancestor in this regiment if he’s writing about it.

    Brett

  • Evan Franke May 3, 2013, 6:23 am

    You are missing any history of the Pennsylvania Second Heavy Artillery/112th Pennsylvania Volunteers. Fortunately, there is a 1904 regimental history available from the National Archives

    History of the Second Pennsylvania veteran heavy artillery, (112th regiment Pennsylvania volunteers) from 1861-1866, including the Provisional second Penn’a heavy artillery (1904) available at http://archive.org/details/secondpenn00wardrich

    My great great great grandfather Eli Tannyhill (Tannehill) served with the 2nd Heavy and died at the Siege of Petersburg, August 5, 1864 (his death has also been recorded as August 25, 1864, but family notes favor the August 5th date), thus my interest in making sure that unit gets its due. I have a small account of his story, just from a few notes passed down in the family. According to the National Park Service, Eli is likely buried in the mass grave at Poplar Grove National Cemetery.

    Eli’s grandson, my great grandfather passed down these notes:

    “Eli, or Grand-Father, joined a Pennsylvania regiment during the Civil War. He was killed in front of Petersburg Augsut 5, 1864. Uncle Bruce met one of his father’s comrads some years later and he told
    this story. The men had been fighting in the trenches for a long time and were suffering very greatly from thirst. Finally Grand-Father Eli offered to go for water. As he was returning he was shot down. This man was sure he could locate his grave, and he and Uncle Bruce made a trip to the old battle field, but things were so different that they could not locate the grave for sure. Uncle Bruce told me this story when I was in Pennsylvania in 1910. Ernest Tannehill”

    Thank you for this site.

  • bschulte May 3, 2013, 11:16 am

    Evan,

    Thanks for the information. I’ve got 1000s of books in my spreadsheet, but lack the time to actually enter them all. I’m going to start working on that after I get unit pages up for every regiment, battery, and battalion which participated in the Siege. Once that’s complete, then I can work full time to get all of the unit histories up.

    Brett

  • Evan Franke May 13, 2013, 8:25 am

    Thanks. I know this is a big job that you have volunteered your time to. The hard work and information you have put into the site is greatly appreciated.

  • bschulte May 13, 2013, 10:08 am

    Evan,

    Thank you very much for the compliment. Once I get the skeleton (i.e. every unit page) done, then I can start adding the muscles and organs. I should have done that way back in late 2009 before ever making the site public. As it is, I’m trying to play catch-up, and I should have every single unit page done by the end of 2013. I’ve got posts scheduled out until late August as it is now, leaving only the Confederate Second Corps and various smaller units which reached the Siege after the Second Offensive to finish up.

    Brett

  • martin radcliffe April 3, 2014, 9:59 am

    Great site. The mind boggles at the amount of work which has gone into it. A couple of Pennsylvania histories you may be missing are the 93rd. by P.G. Mark, and the 148th, which was edited by J.W. Muffly. Mine are reprints.

  • bschulte April 4, 2014, 9:32 pm

    Martin,

    Thank you very much for the compliment. I appreciate that. I’ll double check my massive regimental bibliography spreadsheet. I probably don’t have anything for the 93rd, since I haven’t even gotten that far yet in looking. I’ve been using the Library of Congress’ Civil War unit histories page and the USAHEC’s Civil War unit bibliography page to systematically go through and check regiments. I’ve been working on it off and on since 2005 or so, and I’m still not done.

    Brett

Leave a Reply