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!
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- 69th PA: A Brief History of the 69th Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers
- 69th PA: Paddy Owen’s Regulars: A History of the 69th Pennsylvania Irish Volunteers
- 72nd PA: Haskell of Gettysburg: His Life and Civil War Papers
- 88th PA: History of the 88th Pennsylvania Volunteers in the War for the Union, 1861-1865
- 88th PA: The Campfire Chronicles: The Words and Deeds of the 88th Pennsylvania 1861-1865
- 90th PA: The Last Man and the Last Life
- 100th PA: Campaigning With the Roundheads
- 102nd PA: Camp, March and Battlefield, or Three Years and a Half with the Army of the Potomac
- 104th PA: History of the 104th Pennsylvania Regiment, From August 22nd, 1861, to September 30th, 1864
- 105th PA: History of the One Hundred and Fifth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers
- 106th PA: History of the One Hundred and Sixth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers
- 107th PA: The Civil War Letters of First Lieutenant James B. Thomas
- 114th PA: A Woman’s War Record 1861-1865
- 114th PA: Collis’ Zouaves : The 114th Pennsylvania Volunteers in the Civil War
- 114th PA: Music on the March, 1862-’65, with the Army of the Potomac. 114th Regt. P.V., Collis’ Zouaves
- 116th PA: The Civil War Notebook of Daniel Chisolm: A Chronicle of Daily Life in the Union Army, 1864-1865
- 116th PA: The Story of the 116th Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry: War of Secession, 1862-1865
- 118th PA: History of the 118th Pennsylvania Volunteers Corn Exchange Regiment
- 118th PA: Inside the Army of the Potomac: The Civil War Experience of Captain Francis Adams Donaldson
- 119th PA: Rough and Regular
- 11th PA Cav: History of the Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry
- 11th PA: The Story of the Regiment
- 121st PA: History of the 121st Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers
- 148th PA: The Civil War Diary of Ithiel B. Snyder
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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