The Pennsylvania Reserves in Northern Virginia 1863, Part IV: Daily Life in the Department of Washington

Today's post marks the final installment in my series on the Pennsylvania Reserves in Northern Virginia during the first half of 1863. The veteran division from the Keystone State arrived in Alexandria at the start of February 1863. The Union Army had sent the men to the Department of Washington to rest and recruit away from the front lines. As I wrote last week, the Reserves spent a lot of time on picket, fatigue, and guard duty. The constant threat of attacks by Confederate guerrillas made the work a little less than pleasant, but the men otherwise settled into the daily routine of camp life.

The weather proved uncooperative during the Reserves' first few months in Northern Virginia. As Richard Woolworth of the 4th Pennsylvania Reserves told his sister on March 22, "[s]now, hail, rain and sunshine alternately make the walking very disagreeable. We have been hoping for a change for the better but have been disappointed." A regimental history of the Bucktails recalled:

The winter. . . was remarkably severe, snow alternating with heavy rain making things generally uncomfortable. Even as late as March 31st, eighteen inches of snow were recorded; nor was this the last fall, as on April 5th, another heavy snow storm obstructed the camp. (Thomson & Rauch 245.)

All of the wet weather made for hard marching. The 2nd Pennsylvania Reserves broke camp on March 28 and headed for Fairfax Station. The distance was just four miles, but constant downpours had turned the road into a nearly impassable mess. The men "plunged through the mud up to their knees" and labored for several hours to reach their destination. (Woodward 256.) Towards the end of April, the weather began to show signs of improvement. Americus Murray of Co. H, 4th Pennsylvania Reserves told his cousins that on April 21, "[t]he Weather is pleasant and warm, the buds are opening, and the grass is growing very nicely, and I hope that we have had our last cold storm for this Spring."

Despite all of the miserable weather, the men reported generally healthy conditions in camp. Private Lewis Prall of Co. A, 1st Pennsylvania Reserves, informed his sister on March 16, "There is not much sickness here now. There is no cases of smallpox around here. All the boys are well and lively." Woolworth of the 4th felt much the same. He noted to his sister on March 22 that "we mostly enjoy good health." Of the sixteen sick soldiers, most were "very trifling cases." One man, who appeared "very low spirited" and "home sick," was sent to his family. The Bucktails, meanwhile, suffered from an outbreak of smallpox, but "the cases were few and the disease did not spread." (Thomson & Rauch 246.)

Soldiers' letters back home testify to relatively comfortable conditions in camp. Prall of the 1st Pennsylvania Reserves told his sister in March:

We have a good tent with a large fireplace in it and have six woolen blankets over us. We sleep warm at night. We get plenty to eat. We get fresh bread 3 times a week, also fresh beef besides sugar, coffee, crackers, rice, beans, salt pork, salt beef, and several other things. We have plenty to wear and will soon have plenty of money – we expect to get paid this week.

Sgt. Thomas Dick, Co. A, 12th Pennsylvania Reserves wrote to his brother on March 6 that "[w]e have comfortable quarters plenty of soft br[ea]d fresh beef and other things in proportion." Family members also supplemented the soldiers' victuals with packages from home. At the end of March, Prall "went to Alexandria to the express office and brought up 21 boxes for the regiment," including his own. The contents of Prall's package were "in good order" and "nothing was spoiled, except two or three pies was a little moldy."

Camp of the 1st Pennsylvania Reserves (30th Pennsylvania Infantry) near Fairfax Court House, June 1863 (courtesy of fold3.com; information on photo from MOLLUS-Massachusetts Civil War Photographs, U.S. Army Heritage & Education Center). 

Like all soldiers, the men of the Pennsylvania Reserves found a variety of ways to pass their down time in camp. Reading and letter writing were popular. The soldiers also bet their paychecks on card games like poker. Prall turned to a more productive past time and whittled rings from wood to send to his mother and little sister. Col. Charles Taylor of the Bucktails, who would soon fall at Gettysburg, sponsored a target shooting contest and offered a fifty cent prize to the winner. Some of the Reserves spent their free time playing baseball. Sgt. Dick of the 12th Reserves seemed rushed to finish a letter to his sister so he could enjoy the weather and check out the friendly athletic competition:

For it is such a beautiful day outside, that I can scarcely content myself to remain indoors while I write it. I can hear the loud shouts of the boys who are engaged at a game of ball while I write.

Some soldiers also took advantage of the proximity of the nation's capital. Murray of the 4th Reserves wrote to his cousins of an April trip to Washington City:

I have been in Washington to day and visited some places of interest. It is a grand sight to go over the Capitol grounds and view that noble structure, which is not yet finished, and will not be for a number of years yet. The Capitol is built of marble, and when completed will be one of the finest buildings in the world. The Capitol grounds are at present covered with a growth of fresh green grass; the parks contain a great variety of trees and shrubs, which are just putting forth their green leaves. The avenues and promenades are bordered by a great variety of flowers, many of which are already in full blossom.

A wartime view of Washington showing the unfinished Capitol dome and Trinity Episcopal Church, c. 1863 (courtesy of The Atlantic). Such sights awaited the men of the Pennsylvania Reserves who visited Washington City.

Camp life also provided time for quiet reflection. Sgt. Dick spoke for many in the Reserves when he wrote to his brother on March 6 about the sacrifices of the past year:

Our company presents quite a different appearance now to what it did when we were here before It is but a skeleton of its former self. We now draw rations for over 40 men. how does that compare with last winter when we drew rations for over 90 men; and the missing where are they? The bones of some of them black in the blood stained soil of the peninsula: Some of them repose on the disastrous plains of manasses; While others who fell at south mountain and antietam received a decent burial in the faithful old state of Maryland. I thought I had done. But others yet who perished at Fredericksburg go to swell the number in the graveyard of Virginia. There are others still who may be classed among the missing of Co H. some of them are languishing in the hospitals that have become so common in our land and others I suppose you see almost daily: some with their arms hangings powerless by their sides; and others with their limbs bent in an uncomely shape. and some with an empty coat sleeve that shows to plainly that they were members of the glorious old reserve.

Dick was all too aware of the toll that the war had taken. As he and the other soldiers continued their duty in front of Washington, an even bigger fight loomed on the horizon. Before long, many of these same men would be marching off to defend their home soil against Robert E. Lee's Confederates.

Sources

Ltr. from Thomas Dick to Brother, Mar. 6, 1863; Ltr. from Thomas Dick to Sister, Mar. 25, 1863; Ltr. from Americus Murray to Cousins, Apr. 19, 1863; Ltr. from Lewis Prall to Sister, March 16, 1863; Ltr. from Lewis Prall to Unknown (likely Sister), Apr. 1, 1863; Ltr. from Richard Woolworth to Sister, Mar. 22, 1863; O.R. Howard Thomson & William H. Rauch, History of the "Bucktails" (1906); Evan M. Woodward, Our Campaigns (1865).

Spelling and grammar are as in the original letters.

I would like to thank the Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps Historical Society for publishing all of the letters referenced in this post. This group is doing invaluable work to preserve the story of the Reserves. Please check out the society's website and lend your support.

The Pennsylvania Reserves Remember Dranesville -- at Gettysburg!

As many readers may know, I spent last weekend in Gettysburg. I hadn't been to the battlefield in many years, and the visit left me with a lot of impressions and emotions. (More on that in a future post!) As part of my tour, I focused on sites associated with the Pennsylvania Reserves. Two brigades from the division participated in the fighting at Gettysburg. I am fascinated by the Reserves and have written many posts about their time in Northern Virginia. Imagine my surprise when I discovered "Dranesville" inscribed on the 10th Pennsylvania Reserves Monument along with the names of other battles in which the regiment participated. The same goes for the Bucktails (13th Pennsylvania Reserves) Monument. Although I didn't get to all of the monuments for the Pennsylvania Reserves this time around, I searched the Historical Marker Database and noticed that the other regiments who fought at Dranesville (the 6th, 9th, and 12th Pennsylvania Reserves) also listed this small-scale engagement on their monuments. I've written quite a bit about the battle, including an article for the Civil War Trust. Even after experiencing all the carnage at Gettysburg (not to mention other places like Antietam), the former members of these five regiments made sure to commemorate their clash in and around a small Virginia hamlet during the first year of the war. Dranesville rarely appears in most modern accounts of the Civil War, but the hardened veterans of the Pennsylvania Reserves could never forget the sacrifices they made in one of their early and limited battles against the Confederate infantry.

Here are a few pictures that I snapped of the monuments:

Soldier atop the 10th Pennsylvania Reserves Monument at Big Round Top. The 10th Pennsylvania Reserves belonged to the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division (Pennsylvania Reserves), Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac. The Maltese Cross on the monument represents the Fifth Corps.

A list of engagements of the 10th Pennsylvania Reserves, starting with Dranesville.

I couldn't help but take this close-up of Dranesville on the 10th Pennsylvania Reserves Monument.

The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves Monument near the Wheatfield. The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves were better known as the "Bucktails." The regiment belonged to the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division (Pennsylvania Reserves), Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac. The soldier atop the monument is appropriately wearing a bucktail attached to his cap!

List of engagements in which the Bucktails participated, starting with Dranesville.

The Pennsylvania Reserves in Northern Virginia 1863, Part II: Farewell to Hooker's Army

As I wrote in my last post, the Pennsylvania Reserves faced a somewhat uncertain future at the start of 1863.  The division had experienced tremendous losses during the bloody battles of 1862.  Gen. George G. Meade, a former commander of the Reserves, took up his old division's cause and pushed to have the Reserves sent back to Pennsylvania to recruit and reorganize.  Pennsylvania's Governor, Andrew Curtin, likewise urged the Lincoln Administration to allow the Reserves to return temporarily to the Keystone State.  These pleas went unheeded at army headquarters, and the Pennsylvanians soon joined the rest of Ambrose Burnside's men on the ill-fated "Mud March."

A Plan is Hatched

By the end of January, the situation began to look brighter for the hard-fought Pennsylvanians.  Gen. Joseph Hooker, the new commander of the Army of the Potomac, and General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck finally agreed on a plan to deal with the manpower problems facing the Reserves.  The division was to be detached from the Army of the Potomac and sent to the defenses of Washington in exchange for a like number of Pennsylvania troops then stationed around the capital.  (OR, 1:25:2, 12.)  The Pennsylvania Reserves would return to the front once they had some time to replenish their ranks and recover from combat duty.  Gen. Samuel P. Heintzelman, head of the Department of Washington, was less than enthusiastic about the idea.  He worried that the Reserves were ill-equipped for provost duty in Washington given that "some of the companies are commanded by sergeants and corporals."  (OR, 1:25:2, 10.)  Heintzelman told Halleck, "I fear that the exchange cannot be made with any benefit to the service in my command."  (OR, 1:25:2, 10.)  Whatever his objections, however, Heintzelman would have no choice but to accept his superior's decision.

Gen. Joseph Hooker (courtesy of Wikipedia)

Meanwhile, the men in the ranks began to hear rumors about their imminent departure for Washington.  A soldier from Co. H, 6th Pennsylvania Reserves wrote on January 28 to his hometown paper, "[W]e – that is the old regiments of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps of Volunteers – are soon to be relieved from the front (where they have always been found), by the troops now stationed in and about Washington, while we are to take their place."  (Wellsboro Agitator, Feb. 11, 1863.)  He felt that the division was "not in the least dissatisfied with the arrangement, altho’ we wish to have no men see the service that the Reserves have been obliged to."  (Wellsboro Agitator, Feb. 11, 1863.)  Sgt. Thomas W. Dick of Co. H, 12th Pennsylvania Reserves, informed his brother of "reliable information to the effect that we are going back to Washington to rest and recruit."  (Ltr. from T.W. Dick to Brother, Feb. 2 1863.)  Dick  approved of the plan, telling his brother, "its what should have been done before this There is now but a miserable remnant of the gay old division that marched from [Camp] Pierpont last spring."  (Ltr. from T.W. Dick to Brother, Feb. 2 1863) (grammar as in original)

Orders!

On February 5, Hooker finally issued orders to transfer the Pennsylvania Reserves.  (OR, 1:25:2, 49-50; 52-53.)  He instructed Gen. John F. Reynolds, head of the First Corps, to send the division to Alexandria with instructions to report to Heintzelman for orders.  Hooker added that "[t]he sick and all the baggage of the troops should be taken with them."  (OR, 1:25:2, 50.)  The chief quartermaster would "furnish the transportation," although Hooker told Reynolds that "[t]he details of the embarkation are left with you, with reliance upon your energy and attention."  (OR, 1:25:2, 50.) 

That same day, Reynolds issued an order directing the Pennsylvania Reserves to embark at Belle Plain for Alexandria, "as soon as transportation is furnished."  (OR, 1:51:1, 981.)  The 121st and 142nd Pennsylvania, who were not part of the original Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps, were ordered to remain behind, along with three artillery batteries.  Reynolds informed the men that they would receive three days' cooked rations for the trip north.  He finished his order on a sentimental note:

In separating from the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, with which the commanding general has been so closely allied for the past eighteen months, he cannot but express his deep regrets. They are, however, lessened by the hope that soon their thinned ranks will be filled, and they, once more restored and reorganized, will be returned to the field prepared to add new luster to a name already endeared to our patriotic State.  (OR, 1:51:1, 981-82.) 

Wartime view of Belle Plain, Virginia on Potomac Creek (courtesy of Library of Congress)

The men of the Pennsylvania Reserves received news of their impending move with enthusiasm.  According to one regimental history, "[i]n despite of the cold rain the camp-fires were soon brightly burning, around which the boys gathered and talked of the good times coming until late at night."  (Woodward, Third Reserve, 224.)  The next afternoon, February 6, the division struck camp and marched about four miles to Belle Plain on Potomac Creek. The journey lasted well into the evening due to the wet and muddy conditions.  The First Brigade boarded transports during the night and headed up the Potomac.  The Second and Third Brigades set out for Alexandria in the morning.  As the men arrived at the wharves along the river, they must surely have felt a sense of relief to leave behind life at the front, if only for a little while.

Postscript

The transfer of the Reserves soon became mired in a dispute between Hooker and Washington.  Gen. Abner Doubleday, who assumed command of the Pennsylvania Reserves for a short while in the middle of January, had gone to the capital to oversee arrangements for the exchange. (OR, 1:51:1, 974.)  After the division arrived in Washington, Doubleday reported to Hooker that "[t]he Pennsylvania regiments given in place of the Reserves do not contain as many men as the latter brought here."  (OR, 1:25:2, 63.)  He concluded that there was "a deficiency of about 250 men."  (OR, 1:25:2, 63.)  Hooker fired off a dispatch to Halleck on February 10,  insisting that "this deficiency be made up, and that General Heintzelman be directed to send the full number, according to the understanding, viz, the same number of men as were returned in the Pennsylvania Reserves."  (OR, 1:25:2, 63.) Halleck tersely replied that "[r]egiments cannot be broken up in order to exactly equalize."  (OR, 1:25:2, 63.)

Hooker wouldn't let the shortfall go.  He pressed his cause with Heintzelman directly.  (OR, 1:25:2, 69-70.)  The commander of the Washington defenses informed Hooker that he had been told to exchange the Reserves for Pennsylvania troops only and that some of some of the soldiers designated for the Army of the Potomac had been detained in Washington for reasons beyond his control.  He had no more to give.  Heintzelman alleged that "[t]he numbers at my disposal were well understood by General Doubleday when he made the application."  (OR, 1:25:2, 83.)

Hooker next unleashed his wrath on Doubleday, demanding that he "report what agreement was entered into by you with General Heintzelman with regard to the exchange of the Pennsylvania Reserves."  (OR, 1:25:2, 87.)   Doubleday insisted that he had done nothing wrong, claiming that "no special agreement was entered into" between him and Heintzelman.  (OR, 1:25:2, 90.)   He told Hooker:

It was understood that I was to have an equal number of men with those I furnished. I never supposed I should have a less number until the Reserves had actually arrived in Alexandria, and a report of their number was laid before General Heintzelman. He then informed me that the aggregate would be less than that furnished by some 230 men.  (OR, 1:25:2, 90.)

Doubleday also took offense at Hooker's accusation that he had not given his personal attention to the matter, explaining that he had "visited General Heintzelman's office every day, and frequently several times a day, in relation to it," and "was also a daily visitor at the Adjutant-General's Office of the General-in-Chief" concerning the exchange.  (OR, 1:25:2, 90.)  Heintzelman received a copy of Doubleday's response, but when all was said and done, Hooker turned his attention to more pressing matters.   Meanwhile, the Reserves prepared for duty on the picket line in front of the capital.

Up Next:  Military duties in front of Washington.

Sources

Aside from the Official Records, the following sources were useful in compiling this post:

John H. Eicher & David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands (2001); Joseph Gibbs, Three Years in the Bloody Eleventh: The Campaigns of a Pennsylvania Reserves Regiment (2002); Ltr. from T.W. Dick to Brother, Feb. 2 1863 (courtesy of P.R.V.C. Historical Society); J.R. Sypher, History of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps (1865); Wellsboro Agitator, Feb. 11, 1863 (courtesy of P.R.V.C. Historical Society); Evan M. Woodward, History of the Third Pennsylvania Reserve (1883); Evan M. Woodward, Our Campaigns (1865).

The Presentation of the Colors to the Victors of Dranesville

The month of January 1862 was cold, damp, and miserable for the Pennsylvania Reserves encamped at Langley.  The men huddled inside their crude huts as the snow and rain fell and the ground outside turned into mud.  The winter weather even interfered with the daily routine of army life.  As a soldier from the 7th Pennsylvania Reserves wrote to the Philadelphia Press, "owing to the unfavorable weather with which we have been visited, drill and other duties have been almost suspended."  Nothing, however, not even the elements, could get in the way of bestowing honors on the victors of Dranesville. 

The Pennsylvania Reserves had become the darling of  the political and military establishment ever since the battle.  At the end of the December, Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin visited the Reserves at Camp Pierpont and declared that the regiments involved at Dranesville would have the name of the battle inscribed on their standards.  (See here for a recent post on the governor's visit.)  The flags were soon sent to Washington to be painted with the battle honors. 

Flag of the 6th Pennsylvania Reserves with a barely visible "Dranesville" inscription (courtesy of Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Committee)

Flag of the 9th Pennsylvania Reserves with a faded "Dranesville" inscription (courtesy of Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Committee)

A couple weeks later, on January 11, the entire division participated in the presentation of the colors to the men who had won the day at Dranesville.  All fifteen regiments, "in full uniform," formed and marched out to the parade ground, which was "in a wretched condition, occasioned by the rains of the previous day."  ("Letter from Camp Pierpont," Phila. Press, Jan. 20, 1862.)  A fifteen-gun salute was fired by the Reserves' artillery, and various regimental bands "returned the compliment."  ("Letter from Camp Pierpont," Phila. Press, Jan. 20, 1862.)  Speaker of the House Galusha Grow of Pennsylvania traveled to Langley for the occasion and met the Reserves on the parade ground.  As the soldier from the 7th Pennsylvania Reserves described the scene:

. . . the color companies attached to the different regiments in [E.O.C.] Ord's brigade took an advanced position, when the flags on which were neatly inscribed the word "DRANESVILLE," in honor of the late victory, were presented by [Grow] -- the ceremony winding up with a few complimentary remarks from that gentleman.  The cavalry and artillery that accompanied the brigade were also on the ground, and were presented with new flags similarly inscribed.*

Rep. Galusha Grow,  Speaker of the House, 1861-63 (courtesy of Wikipedia)

The regiments then filed past Grow and the other notables gathered on the parade ground.  Overall, the soldier from the 7th considered that "the affair passed off admirably" despite the muck and mire.  Perhaps the review lifted more than a few spirits in the middle of the harsh winter.  The glow of Dranesville, however, would grow dimmer as the new year progressed and the war's toll grew to unimaginable proportions.

Note
*Ord's brigade was comprised of the 6th, 9th, 10th, and 12th Pennsylvania Reserves.  All of these regiments were engaged at Dranesville. The 1st Pennsylvania Rifles ("the Bucktails"), although not part of Ord's brigade, also participated in the battle, and it is likely that they also received the inscribed flag during the ceremony.

Sources
"Letter from Camp Pierpont," dated Jan. 14, 1862, Philadelphia Press, Jan. 20, 1862;  O.R. Howard Thomson & William H. Rauch, History of the "Bucktails" (1906).

Military Justice at Camp Pierpont: The Court-Martial of Colonel Taggart

During the fall of 1861, Col. John H. Taggart, head of the 12th Pennsylvania Reserves, faced the serious charge of "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman."  Taggart's court-martial got underway at Camp Pierpont on December 4, 1861.  Brig. Gen. E.O.C. Ord, who was Taggart's brigade commander, served as president of the military tribunal.  Taggart, confident that he had acted within the bounds of the law, pleaded "not guilty."  Meanwhile, the men of the 12th Pennsylvania waited anxiously for news about the fate of their commander.

Born in Georgetown, Maryland in 1821, Taggart moved with his widowed mother and sister to Philadelphia when he was eight.  The future colonel started his career in the newspaper business, first as a typesetter, and later as a reporter.  In 1860, Taggart bought a share of the Sunday Mercury.  When the Civil War erupted, he received a captain's commission and raised a militia company in Philadelphia known as the "Wayne Guards," which was accepted for service with the Pennsylvania Reserves.  Taggart took his men to an assembly point at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg in June.  While at camp, Taggart tried to discharge an enlisted man who was suffering from apparent seizures.  The disgruntled soldier lunged at Taggart with a knife, but the captain scared him away with a revolver.  The solider was later captured and sent home from the company.  The Pennsylvania Daily Telegraph added a dramatic flourish, describing the episode as a "Desperate Attempt to Assassinate an Officer."

Regimental flag of the 12th Pennsylvania Reserves (courtesy of ourancestry.com)

While at Camp Curtin, Taggart was elected as the colonel of the 12th Pennsylvania.  Following the Union defeat at First Bull Run, the 12th was dispatched to Tenallytown, D.C., where the regiment joined the rest of the Pennsylvania Reserves under Brig. Gen. George A. McCall in August.  The trip and subsequent stay in Tenallytown led to Taggart's encounter with military justice a few months later.

The charge against Taggart consisted of four specifications.  The first specification alleged that on August 11, Taggart "did shamefully beat, choke, and kick one Miner Moyer, a private in Company B. . . in a car on the Washington Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad." (Army of the Potomac, General Orders No. 55.)  The second specification likewise accused the colonel of "brutally" beating and threatening Private George Davis of Company C  on the same day "at a water station" on the Washington Branch.  (General Orders No. 55.)  According to the third specification, Taggart on August 30 used "blasphemous and threatening language towards one George M. LeBar, teamster of Company B" at Camp Tenally.  (General Orders No. 55.)  Finally, a fourth specification alleged that at Camp Tenally on September 27, Taggart "obtain[ed] money from the company officers of his regiment by false promises, and by agreeing to conditions with which he afterwards refused to comply."  (General Orders No. 55.)

Later in December, the court-martial found Taggart "not guilty" on all specifications and "honorably" acquitted him.  (General Orders, No. 55.)  The evidence had demonstrated that the charges were unfounded and that Taggart's actions were entirely justified under the circumstances.  In one instance, soldiers were discharging their weapons on the railroad cars while traveling from Baltimore to Washington, and "it was necessary to use violent measures to reduce them to obedience of orders."  (Sypher 127.)  As to another allegation, the tribunal deduced that "some five or six of the men left the ranks to enter an orchard, and when asked to return to their companies, refused to do so, and force was employed to maintain subordination."  (Sypher 127.)  The court-martial considered all of the accusations to be "frivolous and vexatious."  (General Orders No. 55.) 

Col. John H. Taggart after the war (courtesy of Historic LaMott, PA)

Federal commander George B. McClellan reviewed the record and weighed in on the affair.  As Little Mac's adjutant wrote on December 14:

The commanding general is surprised that the charge and specifications against Colonel Taggart were ever brought to trial, resting as they do upon evidence which is so complete a vindication of his conduct. It appears that the men whom, in the enforcement of good order and military discipline, he was obliged to punish, were contumacious and insubordinate—were, some of them, engaged in pillaging and pilfering, in which they persisted after admonition, and others were guilty of firing their guns in the cars to the terror of the passengers, contrary to positive orders. In order to reduce them to obedience it was necessary to act with promptitude and energy. They resisted his authority, and if much severer punishment had been necessary to restore order, it would have been fully justified.  (General Orders No. 55.)

McClellan confirmed the results of the court-martial.  Taggart was to "resume his sword and his duties."  (General Orders, No. 55.)

Word of Taggart's acquittal spread through Camp Pierpont.  According to the December 19 , 1861 edition of the Philadelphia Press, "[t]he men under his command, on being apprised of the fact, made the welkin ring with their plaudits, the sounds reverberating through the hills and valleys of the 'sacred soil' of Virginia." Moyer, Davis, and LeBar likely refrained from the celebration.

Not long after the verdict, Taggart led his men to victory at the Battle of Dranesville.  He continued with the 12th Pennsylvania throughout the Peninsula Campaign and resigned in July 1862.  After a stint as a war correspondent with the Philadelphia Inquirer, he was appointed as the chief preceptor of the "Free Military School for Applicants for the Command of Colored Troops" in Philadelphia.  The school successfully trained whites to serve as officers in the United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.).  In 1865, Taggart was appointed as the Collector of Internal Revenue for the First District of Pennsylvania.  After the war, he became a correspondent in Washington for several newspapers and went on to own the Philadelphia Sunday Morning Times (later Taggart's Times).  Taggart died in 1892.

Sources
Martin D. Hardin, History of the Twelfth Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps (1891); Pennsylvania Daily Telegraph (Harrisburg, Pa.), June 24, 1861; Philadelphia Press, Dec. 19, 1861; J.R. Sypher, History of the Pennsylvania Reserves (1865); U.S. Army of the Potomac, Index of General Orders 1861 (1862).

The Action at Dranesville

Of all the skirmishes and minor battles around the Washington area during the Civil War, Dranesville has attracted its fair share of attention.  A quick search on Google reveals plenty of material about this engagement on December 20, 1861.  The Friday after Thanksgiving, my Dad and I set out to explore the area around Dranesville.  The battlefield is now marred by the suburban D.C. development, but a few historical markers recall the encounter, and Fairfax County has preserved an old tavern there.  

The hamlet of Dranesville sat just west of the crossroads of the Leesburg & Alexandria Turnpike (today's VA Route 7/Leesburg Pike) and the Leesburg & Georgetown Turnpike (VA Route 193/Georgetown Pike).  In December 1861, Dranesville occupied "debatable ground" between the Union and Confederate lines in Northern Virginia, characterized by heightened tensions among local inhabitants.  The Union Army learned that enemy cavalry was operating in the region and threatening Union sympathizers.  Brigadier General George A. McCall, commander of the Pennsylvania Reserves, instructed Brigadier General E.O.C. Ord on the evening of December 19 to set out the next morning with his brigade to drive back Confederate pickets and collect forage from secessionist farmers.  Another brigade commander, Brigadier General John F. Reynolds, was instructed to move to Difficult Run, where he was to wait and provide support to Ord if necessary.  Early on the morning of the 20th, Ord left Camp Pierpont in Langley with his brigade of the 6th, 9th, 10th, and 12th Pennsylvania Reserves, along with the "Bucktail" regiment (13th Pennsylvania Reserves), four guns under Captain Hezekiah Easton of Battery A, 1st Pennsylvania Artillery, and two squadrons of the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry.  All told, the force comprised about 5,000 men.

Brigadier General E.O.C. Ord (courtesy of Georgetown University Library)

The Confederates, meanwhile, were planning a similar foraging expedition in the area.  Brigadier General J.E.B. Stuart was assigned to guard the wagons with around 1,600 infantry of the 1st Kentucky, 6th South Carolina, 10th Alabama, and 11th Virginia, as well as four guns of the Sumter Flying Artillery and 150 cavalry.  When Stuart learned of the approaching Federal brigade, he sent the wagons back towards the Confederate camps in Centreville and prepared to defend what he perceived as a threat to his recently collected supplies.

"The Battle of Dranesville -- Sketched by an Officer Who Was Present," Harper's Weekly, Jan.11, 1862 (courtesy of sonofthesouth.net).  This print depicts a view from the position of Easton's battery.  Ridge Road is to the left of the artillery.  The Thornton House, occupied by the Bucktails, is immediately to the front of the artillery, on the right.

As Ord arrived in the vicinity of Dranesville, Rebel pickets fled before his men.  Ord's soldiers moved west of the intersection of the two pikes.  Ord soon discovered that the Confederate force was advancing in his rear, and dispatched his artillery to high ground east of the intersection.  He then wheeled his regiments around and aligned them facing south, towards the Confederates, who were advancing on either side of Ridge Road (or Centreville Road, more or less today's Reston Avenue).  A hot fight ensued between the two armies, lasting around two hours.  The Union artillery, occupying a dominant position, proved particularly effective and wrecked havoc on the Confederate battery.  The Bucktails engaged the 6th South Carolina and 10th Alabama from an advantageous location in and around the Thornton House in the Union center. Off to the Union right, the 9th Pennsylvania battled the 1st Kentucky.  Finally, Stuart, who feared the arrival of Union reinforcements, withdrew from the field and fell back to Frying Pan Church, about half a dozen miles distant.  Lucky that Stuart left, as Reynolds, and another brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves under Brigadier General George G. Meade, were on the way  after learning of the battle that had erupted at Dranesville.  The Union had lost about 68 killed and wounded, and the Confederates suffered 194 casualties.  McCall, worried that the Rebels might cut off Ord's men from Union lines during the night, ordered Ord to march his brigade back to Camp Pierpont.  Stuart returned the next day to collect the wounded and bury the dead.

Modern view of the intersection of Leesburg Pike and the Georgetown Pike at Dranesville.  Ord aligned his forces along the Leesburg Pike, facing south.  The 9th and 12th Pennsylvania were positioned just beyond the intersection, where the ground slopes down.  Easton's artillery was placed to the right of the intersection on elevated land (not visible here).



State historical marker on the "Action at Dranesville," along Leesburg Pike heading west towards the Dranesville intersection of VA Routes 7 & 193. More information can be found on the Historical Marker Database.  



Dranesville Tavern (c. 1824), located west of the Dranesville intersection.  This historic site is owned by Fairfax County, which restored the tavern to its 1850 appearance.  The tavern was moved about 125 feet southwest of its original location.  During the time of the Civil War, the tavern was considered "one of the best roadside inns in America," according to the Virginia Gazette.  The tavern's role in the Battle of Dranesville is not known.  However, a Civil War Trails marker in front of the tavern commemorates the action at Dranesville.

Dranesville was hailed in Northern papers as a major victory.  After the ignominious defeats at First Bull Run and Ball's Bluff, the North was hungry for a win over the Confederates.  Dranesville gave Northerners the opportunity to celebrate.  Secretary of War Simon Cameron, himself a Pennsylvanian, wrote to General McCall that "[i]t is one of the bright spots that give assurance of the success of coming events, and its effect must be to inspire confidence in the belief that hereafter as heretofore, the cause of our country will triumph."  Confederate papers largely portrayed the engagement as a loss.  The Richmond Examiner, for instance, observed that "[t]he impression is, that we have suffered no inconsiderable disaster."  Larger-scale, more brutal battles would follow, and for all the attention Dranesville got in the winter of 1861, it would soon become, as historian Charles Poland has said, "a virtually forgotten sideshow of the war."

A Note on Sources:

I found several sources useful in learning more about the Battle of Dranesville.

The Glories of War: Small Battles and Early Heroes of 1861, by local historian Charles P. Poland, Jr. has a detailed chapter on the battle.

The Official Records, Series I, Volume V contains official reports of the battle by Union commanders and Confederate General Stuart.

"The Battle of Dranesville, Va." by William S. Hammond in the Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. XXXV, Richmond, Jan.-Dec. 1907 (available here) provides a concise account of the engagement.

Craig Swain, over at To the Sound of the Guns, does a great job of describing troop positions in relation to the current lay of the land in Dranesville.