Confirming the Relation to my Civil War Ancestor

A few weeks ago I wrote about some recent developments in the ongoing search to determine my exact relationship to Private William Baumgarten of Co. K, 102nd Pennsylvania. Most of my research has established that my Great Great Grandfather John is likely related to William. I discovered an additional clue in John's obituary, which indicates that John had extended family in Alabama at the time of his death. William had moved to Alabama at some point after the war, and died there in 1921. I was getting closer.

Looking for more answers, I wrote to the Archives and Records Center of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. I figured that church sacramental records might contain some additional information as to the relationship between John and William. I recently received a response, and my request paid huge dividends.

John's marriage record from St. Joseph in Mt. Oliver, dated January 12, 1873, indicates that John (called "Johannum" in the record) was the son of "Joseph Baumgarten." William's father was also Joseph! (Unfortunately, John's mother is not named.) Piecing together all of the evidence that I have uncovered and detailed in previous posts, I am pretty sure that this record confirms that William is John's brother (or at the very least, half-brother). This would make Private Baumgarten my Great Great Great Uncle.

St. Joseph's in Mt. Oliver, built in 1870. The church no longer stands (courtesy of Diocese of Pittsburgh).

The Diocese also forwarded some additional information of interest. The researcher, Suzanne Johnston, could not locate baptismal records for John after searching church documents from 1847 through 1852. Perhaps John was not baptized, or perhaps the records are missing. In any event, she found William's baptismal records from St. Philomena, the first German ethnic parish in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. William received the sacrament on April 20, 1845. His older brother, Reinhard, was baptized there on February 20, 1841. I also learned that the boys had a sister, Maria, who was baptized in the parish on April 21, 1844. All three baptismal records indicate a father named Joseph and a mother named Martha (Marta) Stiz (possibly Stitz or Statz). A previous record had led me to believe that William and Reinhard were paternal half-brothers, but the baptismal documentation proves that both men had the same mother as well.

Five years ago, I had no idea that a Baumgarten had set foot in the United States prior to the end of the 19th century. Now I know that the family reached America's shores long before then. Even more of a revelation is that I have a close family relation through my Great Great Grandfather to a young man who volunteered to fight for the Union. My life-long interest in the Civil War has certainly assumed a more personal and intimate meaning.

In Memoriam

This post, and my research on family history, are dedicated to my recently deceased Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Richard, two of John's Great Grandchildren. They were thrilled to hear of my discoveries, and I'd like to think they are continuing to read from above.

Searching Family History for the Right Connection

How about a little break from the current Confederate controversy? I've written often about my "Civil War ancestor," Pvt. William Baumgarten of the 102nd Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, I still don't know William's exact connection to my branch of the Baumgarten family. Based on the research I have done, I think that William may be a brother or a cousin to my Great Great Grandfather John. Whenever I get the chance, I try to uncover the family link. After all, my membership in the Sons of Union Veterans depends on it!

The other day I learned about the on-line archives of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. After a couple of searches (and paying for a month subscription), I found John's obituary from the January 23 and 24, 1936 editions of the paper. (January 23 is pictured below.) I learned some interesting facts about John, including his wife's maiden name and his exact street address, but was particularly drawn to the instructions at the bottom of the listing. The paper directed that the obituary also be circulated in the Ashland, Kentucky and Alabama papers.

Those two states immediately rang a bell. John was related to a Reinhard Baumgarten, who had relocated to Ashland and died there in 1911. Moreover,William eventually found his way to Cullman, Alabama, where he passed away in 1921. It seems that someone in the Pittsburgh part of the family was seeking to spread the word of John's death to the Kentucky and Alabama branches. The obituary confirms a connection to those states, and further reinforces the possibility of a very close relationship among John, Reinhard, and William.

I also located John's death certificate on Ancestry.com. (It wasn't there a few months ago.) From this document I discovered that John was born in Snowden Township (now South Park Township), Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, his parents' names are not recorded, so I could not match them against the names of Reinhard and William's parents. That said, this additional information enabled me to be even more precise in my request to the Diocese of Pittsburgh for John's baptismal, communion, and marriage records. I am hoping that from these additional documents I will learn the parents' names and at long last confirm my relationship to William.

I am also excited to follow the path opened by the death certificate as to Snowden Township and how my family ended up there. The township was created in 1845, the year of William's birth and only five years before John arrived on the scene. I would like to dig deeper into this linkage to discover what John and his family's life was like in antebellum Pittsburgh. I'll be sure to report back when more information is available, but I am increasingly hopeful that I will learn whether John and William were brothers, and whether William is a distant uncle. Stay tuned.

Putting a Face to a Name

This past March I confirmed my own family connection to the Civil War when I was contacted by one Katie Baumgarten, who had come across my blog while doing her own genealogical research. Thanks to Katie, I learned that I was related to Pvt. William Baumgarten of Co. K, 102nd Pennsylvania. If you read this blog on a regular basis, you may have seen my earlier posts about William. I've also started using Facebook and Twitter to retrace William's steps 150 years ago to the day. As I've said before, I am not sure of William's exact relationship to my part of the family line, but I think that he was either a cousin or brother of my Great Great Grandfather John Baumgarten.

Katie had earlier sent me a photo of William later in life. In that picture, he is seated with his brother, Reinhard. I still had no clue as to what young William looked like during the Civil War. I could only squint at that one photograph and imagine William many years before.  However, when doing some research on Ancestry.com, I checked out Katie's family tree. I was excited to discover the following photograph of William in uniform!:

(Courtesy of Katie Baumgarten)

The photograph contains one oddity -- the label about William's wounding appears incorrect. According to my research, William was wounded at Snicker's Gap (July 18, 1864), Third Winchester (September 19, 1864), and Fisher's Hill (September 22, 1864). At some point in the fall of 1864 he was sent to Satterlee General Hospital in Philadelphia to recover for several months prior to discharge from service in June 1865.

I informed Katie about the apparent discrepancy. She told me that her grandfather maintained the old photo album containing this picture and that he may have gotten his facts wrong. In any event, I hope to figure out why the photograph states a wounding date of November 24, 1864.

Until earlier this year, I had no confirmation of my personal tie to the Civil War. And now, after only a few months, I am fortunate enough to have a wartime portrait of my ancestor. I can actually see William as I read about the movements of the 102nd Pennsylvania. Needless to say, a copy of the photograph will soon occupy a cherished place on my office wall.

Divining Motivation: William Baumgarten's Decision to Enlist, March 1864

Last week I wrote about a recent discovery that I am related to William Baumgarten of the 102nd Pennsylvania. The universe of what I know about William is rather limited. Sure, I was able to pull together a general biography and the details of his service record. But can I ever really know him?

The date of William's enlistment -- March 31, 1864 -- immediately grabbed my attention. Men who joined the Union ranks so late in the game earned a bad reputation among the old veterans of the Army of the Potomac. Many of these newcomers enlisted to collect large bounties being offered at the federal, state, and local level. Add to this mix draftees or the substitutes hired by them, and the soldiers arriving at the front in early 1864 looked somewhat different from the men who had rushed to the colors in the early days of the war.

On February 1, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln issued a call for 500,000 men. Those who had enlisted under the previous October's call for 300,000 volunteers, as well as draftees raised in 1863, were credited against this number. In Pittsburgh, William's hometown, the draft was set for March 1. The rush to find recruits was on. Local authorities often sought to avoid a backlash against the draft by filling the ranks with as many recruits as possible prior to the drawing of names. Pittsburgh was no different. Individuals could earn between fifteen to twenty-five dollars for getting someone to enlist. In certain wards of Pittsburgh and Allegheny City, block committees knocked on doors in search of willing recruits. By the end of February, the activity had reached a fever pitch. The date of the next draft slipped to April 1.

Notice about federal bounties published in the Pittsburgh Daily Gazette & Advertiser a few days before William enlisted (courtesy of Penn State University's Pennsylvania Era Civil War Newspaper Collection).

On March 1, Lincoln called for an additional 200,000 men. The draft was ordered to take place as soon as possible after April 15 in order to fill any deficiencies. By the end of March, local bounties climbed from $250 to $265, in addition to the federal bounty of $300.

Troops from the 102nd Pennsylvania arrived in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, March 29. As the Pittsbugh Daily Gazette & Advertiser reported a couple of days later, the presence of the regiment "has given an impetus to recruiting." (Mar. 31, 1864.) The paper observed:

Several wards of this city are endeavoring to fill their quotas from this regiment, and the private bounties now range from $260 to $300. New recruits have been receiving $280 since Tuesday. (Mar. 31, 1864.)*

On March 31, William joined the rush and enlisted in Company K of the 102nd Pennsylvania.

The draft was finally set for June 2 in Allegheny City and June 13 for Pittsburgh. The recruiting drive was by and large a success -- at the time of the draft, a deficiency of only 479 existed out of the two cities' entire quota of 2,373. (Amer. Hist. Soc. 233.)

The historical record raises obvious questions about William's motivations for volunteering. This young son of German immigrants entered the ranks during the height of recruiting frenzy in Pittsburgh. It is easy to conclude that the large bounties then being offered had a lot to do with his decision to enlist, particularly in light of all the anecdotal accounts of 1864 recruits. But should we be so quick to jump to conclusions about William or others who volunteered, without knowing more? Perhaps feelings of patriotism or a sense of duty nagged at William, and the money may or may not have made the final difference in his decision to join the Union Army. William may have wanted to enlist when he turned eighteen the previous year, but only with the passage of time or monetary inducements, or both, did his parents drop their objections. Regardless of his reasons for enlisting, William remained with Company K and fought in some of the most brutal battles of the Eastern Theater. Wounded three times in the Valley, he was finally sent to recover in a military hospital behind the lines. Even if we never discover William's reasons for going to fight, we do know that he, like countless others, volunteered to put his life at risk in service to our country at its most critical hour.

Note

*The use of the term "private bounties" seems to indicate that private donors also furnished bounties, in addition to federal and local bounties previously discussed.

Sources

American Historical Society, Inc., History of Pittsburgh and Environs, Part II (1922); Bruce Catton, A Stillness at Appomattox (1953); A. Lincoln, Executive Order, Feb. 1, 1864; A. Lincoln, Executive Order, March 14, 1864; James B. McPherson, For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War (1998); PBS, "Kids in the Civil War," American Experience: Ulysses S. Grant; Pittsburgh Daily Gazette & Advertiser, Mar. 29, 30, 31, 1864; U.S. Provost Marshal General's Bureau, Second Report of the Provost Marshall General to the Secretary of War on the Operations of the Selective Service System to December 20, 1918 (1919); U.S. War Dept., Annual Report of the Secretary of War (1865); Erasmus Wilson & Weston Arthur Goodspeed, Standard History of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania (1898);

A Civil War Ancestor!

Readers occasionally contact me about their own research interests, usually related to genealogy and the Civil War. Imagine my surprise when I received an email last week from Katie Baumgarten. Katie's second great grand uncle is Reinhard (Reinhart) Baumgarten, who also happens to be one of my ancestors. As I wrote in 2011, Reinhard was born in Pennsylvania in 1839 and eventually settled in Ashland, Kentucky. He was somehow related to my Great Great Grandfather John Baumgarten. At the time of the 1870 Census, Reinhard and John were living together in Birmingham, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. I also stumbled upon a William Baumgarten, who was born in Allegheny County in 1845 and later served in Co. K of the 102nd Pennsylvania Infantry. I speculated based on some of my findings that Reinhard and William may have been brothers, but I wasn't certain.

Flash ahead to this March, and in steps Katie. She emailed me that William was indeed Reinhard's brother and even sent me a photograph of the two. Her grandfather, Richard, had given the picture to her. We both agreed that William and Reinhard were possibly half-brothers, given that their mothers apparently had different names. In any event, the picture simply labels them as "brothers."

Photograph of Reinhard (l) and William (r) Baumgarten, courtesy of Katie Baumgarten. A wartime wound blinded William in the right eye.  The injury to the eye seems visible here. Katie dates the picture to around 1900.

Reinhard is in my bloodline, meaning that William is an ancestor as well. I don't know John's relationship to the brothers yet, and am still trying to determine the exact family tie. Regardless, I am excited to learn that I count a Civil War solider among my ancestors. Only a few years ago, I had no idea that any of my family was even here during the War Between the States!

Second state color of the 102nd Pa. Infantry, received in April 1864 (courtesy of Pa. Capitol Preservation Committee). William served under this flag. 

William enlisted as a private with Company K, 102nd Pa. in Pittsburgh on March 31, 1864. He and the rest of the recruits joined the fight against General Robert E. Lee's Confederates as part of the First Brigade, Second Division, Sixth Corps of the Army of the Potomac. William participated in the Overland and Petersburg Campaigns before being transferred to Washington, where the 102nd Pa. helped to repulse Jubal Early's movement against the capital at the Battle of Ft. Stevens (July 11-12, 1864). William and the 102nd Pa. next headed to the Shenandoah Valley. William was injured in the right side of the head near Snicker's Gap in July 1864, and lost sight in one eye. He later was wounded in the left leg at Third Winchester (Sept. 19, 1864) and the left hand at Fisher's Hill (Sept. 22, 1864). Even after suffering so many injuries, William soldiered onward, and apparently fought at Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864. He was finally sent to recover from his wounds for six months at Satterlee General Hospital in Philadelphia. William was discharged from the service on June 9, 1865.

Following the war, William married Elizabeth Martin, a native of Germany, in 1868. The two had five children together. William and Reinhard ran a grocery store in Birmingham, Allegheny Co. after the war called Baumgarten & Brothers. William moved to Butler County, Pennsylvania in 1889 and started farming. At some point the family relocated to Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and Cullman, Alabama, where William died on October 29, 1921.

I plan to continue researching Reinhard, William, and John Baumgarten. For now, I am proud to know that I have an ancestor who fought in the war for the Union cause. This discovery has added meaning given that this year we observe the 150th of those battles where William sacrificed so much. Stay tuned for more on William and Company K. And a special thanks to Katie for sending me the information and picture.

Sources

Butler County PAGenWeb, "Genealogical Inquiries" (contains excerpt on William from 1889 book, Presidents, Soldiers and Statesmen, Vol. 1); Directory of Pittsburgh and Allegheny Cities, 1867-68; N.A.R.A., Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900 (available on fold3.com); National Park Service, "102nd Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry," Soldiers & Sailors Database.

The Chain Bridge Defenses During the Maryland Campaign, Part I: Sigel and Company on the Move

This summer's Sesquicentennial calendar is crowded with observances of several key events.  We've just finished Second Manassas and are now headed into the Maryland Campaign and Antietam.  During such times, I start to think about my own little corner of Northern Virginia. What was happening here as the armies left behind the wreckage at Manassas and marched through Maryland on the way to a bloody encounter outside Sharpsburg?   Although far less dramatic than other events unfolding in September 1862, the ground around present-day McLean and North Arlington witnessed a build-up of Gen. Franz Sigel's army corps.  These men played a key role in manning the defenses of Washington while Gen. George B. McClellan hunted down Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in the Old Line State.

Born in Germany in 1824, Sigel rose to become a military leader in the Revolution of 1848.  He emigrated to the United States in the early 1850s and eventually settled in St. Louis.   When war broke out, Sigel helped to recruit German-Americans to the Union cause.  He first served out West at Wilson's Creek and Pea Ridge.  Sigel, favored by the Lincoln Administration for his ties to the German-American community, was appointed a major general of volunteers and sent East, where he was named commander of the First Corps of Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia in June 1862.  Sigel seemed a fitting choice to lead the new corps, whose ranks were filled with many German immigrants.   Sigel's men fought hard at Second Manassas (August 28-30, 1862) and helped to stem James Longstreet's massive counter-attack on the Union left. 

Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel (courtesy of Library of Congress).  German-Americans were recruited to the Union cause with the slogan, "I goes to fight mit Sigel."  The general had a less than stellar record on the battlefield and was later trounced at the Battle of New Market in 1864.

By September 2, Pope's defeated army had concentrated at Fairfax Court House.  The Union commander worried that his men were not up to the task of fighting Lee anytime soon and strongly suggested to general-in-chief Henry W. Halleck that his army return to the safety of Washington's defenses.  On mid-morning September 2, Halleck finally ordered Pope to "bring your forces as best you can within or near the line of fortification."  (OR, 1:12:3, 796-97.) 

The anxious and demoralized Pope wasted no time in carrying out Halleck's instructions.  He soon put his troops on the move towards the outskirts of Washington. Sigel's First Corps, along with Edwin V. Sumner's Second Corps, Army of the Potomac, and Fitz John Porter's Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac, were told to march "via Vienna toward the Chain Bridge."  (OR, 1:12:2, 86.)*  The Chain Bridge, located above Georgetown, was one of three pivotal crossing points into the nation's capital from Virginia.  Pope cautioned the three corps to "keep well closed up and within easy supporting distance of each other."  (OR, 1:12:2, 86.) 

The men started out towards Chain Bridge with Porter in the lead.  Sigel followed, and Sumner brought up the rear.  (Armstrong 57; Powell 256; McClellan, Own Story, 537-38.)   J.E.B. Stuart, however, was not about to let the Federal troops have an easy time of it.   The Confederate general sent cavalry under Gen. Wade Hampton, along with Capt. John Pelham's flying artillery, to harass the Union column as the men snaked their way along the road towards Vienna and Langley.

McClellan, who was just recently restored to overall command, rode out in the afternoon towards Upton's Hill, where he greeted Irvin McDowell's corps arriving from Fairfax.  Pope and McDowell soon appeared.  While speaking with the two generals, McClellan noticed "rather heavy artillery-firing . . . in the distance."  (McClellan, Own Story, 537.)  Pope speculated that Confederates were likely shelling Sumner's rear guard and "intimated that Sumner was probably in a dilemma."  (McClellan, Own Story, 537.)  McClellan could not help but get in a dig at Pope in his post-war account:

[Pope] could give me no information, of any importance in relation to the whereabouts of the different corps, except in a most indefinite way; had evidently not troubled his head in the slightest about the movements of his army in retreat, and had coolly preceded the troops, leaving them to get out of the scrape as best they could.  He and McDowell both asked my permission to go on to Washington, to which I assented, remarking at the same time that I was going to that artillery-firing. They then took leave and started for Washington.  (McClellan, Own Story, 537.)

McClellan dashed off with an aide and three orderlies to investigate what was happening along the road to Langley.  He first encountered Porter's men after dark.  The soldiers let out a rousing cheer upon recognizing Little Mac and crowded around their beloved commander.  By this time, "the firing had ceased, with the exception of perhaps a dropping shot occasionally."  (McClellan, Own Story, 537.)  McClellan nevertheless continued onward in the moonlight, until he came to Sigel's corps.  As McClellan described the remainder of his excursion:

I . . . soon satisfied myself that Sumner was pursuing his march unmolested, so I sent on to inform him that I was in command, and gave him instructions as to his march. I then returned by the Chain bridge road, having first given Sigel his orders; and at a little house beyond Langley I found Porter, with whom I spent some time, and at length reached Washington at an early hour in the morning.  (McClellan, Own Story, 538.)

Pope, meanwhile, seemed less than troubled by the Confederate action against the retreating Federal column.  He told Halleck:

The whole army is retiring in good order, without confusion or the slightest loss of property. . .  Three army corps pursue the route via Vienna to Chain Bridge, covered by all the effective cavalry.  (OR, 1:12:2, 87.)

 At 7:10 p.m., upon arriving near Washington, Pope sent an update to Halleck:

Command coming in on the road without much molestation. Some artillery firing on the road through Vienna to Chain Bridge, but nothing of a serious character, so far as I can learn.  (OR, 1:12:2, 87.)

Pope was not far off the mark in his assessment.  The 71st Pennsylvania under Col. Isaac Wistar, along with the 1st Minnesota, was protecting Sumner's rear.  Wistar's overall view was that the enemy's shells did "little damage" that night, although stragglers greatly complicated matters for the retreating army corps. (Wistar 48.)  As it was, the narrow road was already crowded with "thousands of disorganized troops and fragments of commands; disorderly wagon trains; guns without officers; caissons without guns."  (Wistar 46.)  However unfairly, Wistar singled out stragglers from Sigel's command for getting in the way of his regiment's rear guard duty:

Many hundred perhaps thousands of Germans from the routed Division of Siegel [sic], had abandoned their colors, thrown away their arms, and deliberately gone to sleep around fires kindled in the woods, a spectacle most exasperating to our men, since these stragglers could have no other design than to be taken prisoners after the passage of the rearguard. The soldiers in ranks begged to be let loose on these 'coffee-boilers,' promising there should be none left for the enemy; but the integrity of the rearguard was of too much importance to permit risking it, even for that just vengeance. Nevertheless, such stragglers did not all go unwhipt of  justice. Unfortunately, the Adjutant's horse being killed and no Major present, the only mounted regimental officers were Lieut.-Col. [William] Jones and myself, who, when otherwise unoccupied, busied ourselves with charging into these sleeping squads of loafers, to the intense delight of the gallant fellows of the hard-worked rearguard.  (Wistar 48-49.)

During the night of September 2 and early morning hours of September 3, Federal soldiers streamed through Lewinsville and entered Langley, only a handful of miles from the Chain Bridge over the Potomac.  (OR, 1:12:2, 87; Wistar 50.)**  Sumner's men took some time to recover from their march, but later on September 3, the Second Corps crossed the Potomac at Chain Bridge and headed to Tennallytown, northwest of Washington City.  They were joined by soldiers from the Second Corps, Army of Virginia (soon to be re-designated as the Twelfth Corps, Army of the Potomac).  Porter's men soon took up a position around Hall's Hill (near current-day US-29 and N. Glebe Rd. in Arlington).  Sigel's corps encamped closest to Chain Bridge, including the area around Ft. Ethan Allen.***  Sigel also kept pickets at Langley. 

As the Union Army sat within Washington's defenses, Lee prepared to invade Maryland.  Before long, the Army of Northern Virginia was fording the Potomac upriver from Washington.  The bulk of McClellan's force would soon be on the move, but not everyone would join in the chase.  After all, someone had to ensure that the nation's capital remained safe while the main body of the army was away. 

Notes

*For a Union Army map of Northeastern Virginia in 1862, click here.  The general route taken by the three army corps from Fairfax Court House through Vienna to Lewinsville, Langley, and Chain Bridge can be traced on this map in detail.  I unfortunately could not post the desired portion of the map at a level of magnification that was satisfactory enough for viewing.

**Precise arrival times are difficult to ascertain. Some elements reached the area around Chain Bridge on the evening of September 2, while the rear guard arrived in Langley "about daylight" on September 3.  (OR, 1:12:2, 466; McClellan, Own Story, 537-38; Wistar 50.)

***The exact placement of Sigel's corps on September 3-4 is unclear.  Sigel received dispatches on September 4 at Ft. Ethan Allen, so presumably most of his men were encamped in that general vicinity.  (OR, 1:51:1, 785).  A history of the 27th Pennsylvania, a regiment in Sigel's corps, indicates that around the same time the unit "was for several days engaged in picket duty" at Langley. (Bates 388.)

Sources

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

Marion V. Armstrong Jr., Unfurl Those Colors: McClellan, Sumner, & the Second Army Corps in the Antietam Campaign (2008); Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865, Vol. I (1869); Stephen D. Engle, Yankee Dutchman: The Life of Franz Sigel (1993); George H. Gordon, History of the Campaign of the Army of Virginia Under John Pope (1880); Bradley Gottfried, The Maps of Antietam (2012); Joseph L. Harsh, Taken at the Flood: Robert E. Lee & Confederate Strategy in the Maryland Campaign of 1862 (1999); John J. Hennessy, Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas (1993); George B. McClellan, McClellan's Own Story (1887); George B. McClellan, Report on the Organization and Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac (1864); William H. Powell, The Fifth Army Corps (Army of the Potomac) (1896); "Franz Sigel (1824-1902)," Encyclopedia Virginia; Isaac Jones Wistar, Autobiography of Isaac Jones Wistar, 1827-1905, in Two Volumes, Vol. II (1914).

Manning the Defenses of Washington: The 3rd Battalion New York Artillery (Heavy)

Over the last two years, I've dedicated quite a few posts to life in the camps near Washington during the first winter of the Civil War.  My primary focus has been the soldiers living around present-day McLean, including the Pennsylvania Reserves and the Vermont Brigade.  As part of my Sesquicentennial timeline, I've even followed the men in "real" time as they combated disease, went on foraging expeditions, fought Confederates, and celebrated the holidays.  By the spring of 1862, however, most of the Union soldiers in and around Northern Virginia had left the region and moved to points farther south.

Now seems like the perfect time to shift attention to the Union soldiers who remained behind while the rest of the army was off fighting Joe Johnston on the Peninsula.  (Or waiting impatiently to do so at Fredericksburg.)  Following the Federal defeat at First Manassas, Gen. George McClellan undertook an ambitious plan to protect Washington from possible Confederate attack.   The army erected forts, batteries, and rifle trenches in a defensive ring around the city, and various regiments were assigned the unglamorous but important job of garrison duty.  I'd like to take a closer look at the men who defended Washington while the armies were battling and campaigning elsewhere.  And what better place to start than the two forts located in my neck of the woods?

Troops under Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith crossed the Potomac and began construction on Forts Marcy and Ethan Allen in September 1861.  These two forts guarded the approaches to the Chain Bridge across the river above Georgetown.  I've written about Forts Marcy and Ethan Allen on more than a few occasions.  (See here and here.)  During this time 150 years ago, the 3rd Battalion New York Artillery (Heavy) had the responsibility of manning the two forts.

The 3rd Battalion was raised in New York City in the fall of 1861.  The men signed up for a three-year term of service.  Most of the recruits were either German immigrants, or descendants of German immigrants, and the 3rd Battalion quickly acquired the nickname of the "German Heavy Artillery."  The regiment was placed under the overall command of Lt. Col. Adam Senges, a 38 year-old immigrant from Baden who had participated in the German Revolution of 1848.  The artillerymen were soon en route to the nation's capital.  On November 28, 1861, the New York Times reported on the "Departure of Col. Senges' Company of Artillery":

Tuesday evening a company of artillery numbering ninety men, left this City, by the New-Jersey railroad for Washington. On their arrival there they are to report to the commanding officer of Gen. [Louis] BLENKER's Division, and will form a part of his command. Cannon, caissons, horses, &c., will be furnished them at the Capital.*

The 3rd Battalion was assigned to garrison duty at Forts Marcy and Ethan Allen, not far from the divisional camps of George McCall and "Baldy" Smith at Langley and Lewinsville.  The men passed a long, cold, and damp winter in Northern Virginia.  The days were mostly filled with drilling and other routine duties of army life. 

Lt. Col. Adam Senges (courtesy of OldPictures.com, from Library of Congress).** Senges served as the commander of the 3rd Battalion until May 1863.

During the summer of 1862, the 3rd Battalion sought to fill the ranks with new enlistments.  In an August 14, 1862 article entitled, "German Recruiting," the New York Times informed readers:

[The 3rd Battalion] is now stationed at Forts Ethan Allen and Marcy, in the vicinity of Washington.  It requires about 150 men to complete its maximum regimental strength, and is now receiving recruits at No. 15 Bowery. Capt. FRANZ MATTUSCHEK is the officer in charge.

The Times had no doubts that the 3rd Battalion would meet its goal:

Lieut.-Col. SENGES, the Commandant of the corps, is much esteemed by his men, and the inducements, to join his regiment are so great that the close of the present week will probably find it filled.

As the 3rd Battalion was busy recruiting in New York, Robert E. Lee's Confederates were moving towards Northern Virginia.  Gen. John G. Barnard, the newly-appointed commander of the fortifications around Washington, was worried.  Many experienced troops had already been transferred to Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia at the front.  Upon taking command in August 1862, Barnard counted just 5,989 men in the fortifications, including 310 in the 3rd Battalion.  (Barnard 105.)  About 2,000 of the defenders were three-month recruits whose terms expired at the end of August, and an additional 2,000 were slated for the front.  (Barnard 105.)  Barnard began to reassign his men in an effort to strengthen various points in the capital's defenses.

On August 22, the 3rd Battalion was ordered to leave Forts Marcy and Ethan Allen.  Six days later, as Pope engaged Lee near Manassas, Barnard reported to Gen. McClellan:

The Third Battalion New York Artillery, about 300 strong, was distributed as follows: Fort Barnard, one company; Richardson, one platoon; Scott, one platoon; Blenker, one platoon; Ward, one company; Worth, one platoon; Ellsworth, one platoon.  (OR, 1:12:3, 711.)***

The next day, McClellan directed the 3rd Battalion to concentrate at Ft. Lyon to the west of Alexandria, with the exception of one platoon, which was retained at Ft. Ellsworth.  The immediate threat to Washington was averted when Lee's Confederates trounced Pope and headed to Maryland. 

The 3rd Battalion remained on duty at Ft. Lyon.  (OR, 1:12:3, 782, 803; 1:12:3, 1:25:2, 181.)  According to historians Benjamin Cooling and Walton Owen, during its time at Ft. Lyon, "[t]he battalion was known for its singing, lager beer, and numerous pet dogs."  (Cooling & Owen 69.)  One solider observed:

If you wish any dogs, there are plenty of them at Fort Lyon as the Dutchman have thee dogs to every man and peck of fleas in the bargain.  (in Cooling & Owen 69-70.)

On June 9, 1863, twenty-six men from the battalion were busy re-filling shells outside of Ft. Lyon's north powder magazine.  The men first had to remove powder that was caked on the inside of the shells due to moisture damage.  The lieutenant in charge grew frustrated with the ineffectiveness of the wooden spoons being used for the task and distributed priming wires to some of the men to dig out the powder.  A spark caused by a priming wire triggered a massive explosion of around 28,00 pounds of powder.  The powerful blast destroyed the north magazine and sent debris and bodies flying through the air.  As Gen. John Slough, military governor of Alexandria, reported to headquarters, "[e]verything in the vicinity is a wreck," although "[n]o serious damage was done . . . to the guns or guncarriages."  (OR, 1:27:2, 871.)  Incredibly, most of the men were huddled in the bombproof at the time of the explosion and escaped unharmed.  In all, twenty-one lost their lives, and ten were injured.  The "severely wounded" were transported to the hospital in Alexandria. (OR, 1:27:2, 871.)  The following day, President Abraham Lincoln, accompanied by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, inspected the damage. 

The 3rd Battalion underwent organizational changes in September 1863, when the men were transferred to the newly-formed 15th New York Heavy Artillery.  The 3rd Battalion comprised Companies A through E of the regiment.  The 15th New York Heavy Artillery was initially based at Ft. Lyon, and other companies joined the old 3rd Battalion there. 

The 15th New York Heavy Artillery left the defenses of Washington and headed to the field in March 1864.  The regiment fought with the Fifth Corps of the Army of the Potomac throughout the Overland Campaign and before Petersburg.  After Appomattox, the men returned to the defenses of Washington and were mustered out of Federal service in August 1865. 

The 3rd Battalion never saw combat as a unit.  Its biggest enemies were disease and boredom.  The time spent in the defenses around Washington was generally considered "soft" duty by the hardened soldiers in the field.  However, without units like the 3rd Battalion, the forts were worthless as a deterrent.  And the terrible tragedy at Ft. Lyon in 1863 reminds us that garrison duty was not always a risk-free adventure.  The history of the 3rd Battalion also highlights the contributions that German immigrants made to the Union war effort.  Senges and others like him endured the hardships of army life and war for their adopted homeland.  Their story helps us to put a human face on the defenses of Washington.

Notes

*Some sources report that the 3rd Battalion left for Washington on December 19, 1861. It appears that a company under Senges left at the end of November 1861, and that the remainder of the 3rd Batallion may have joined them in Washington in December.

**Nearly all captions I have seen, including on the Library of Congress website, indicate that the officer pictured above is "Lt. Col. A. Senger" of the 15th New York Heavy Artillery (a later iteration of the 3rd Battalion). However, "Lt. Col. A. Senger" does not appear on the rolls of either the 3rd Battalion or the 15th New York Heavy Artillery. Moreover, a military service record for Senges on ancestry.com includes this photograph. I am convinced that this photograph has been misidentified in most captions, and that it actually shows Senges.

***All of these forts were located to the north and west of Alexandria, Virginia.  For a map of the defenses of Washington from the OR, see here.

Sources

John Gross Barnard, A Report on the Defenses of Washington to the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army (1871); Benjamin Franklin Cooling III & Walton H. Owen II, Mr. Lincoln's Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington (2010 ed.); Wolfgang Hochbruck, "Forty-Eighters" in the Union Armies: A Preliminary Checklist, on RootsWeb; George B. McClellan, Report of Major-General George B. McClellan Upon the Organization of the Army of the Potomac and Its Campaigns in Virginia and Maryland (1864); Military and Naturalization Records of Adam Senges, available on ancestry.com (subscription service); William J. Miller, The Men of Fort Ward: Defenders of Washington (1989); National Park Service, A Historic Resources Study: The Civil War Defenses of Washington, Parts I & II (2004); New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, 3d Battalion of Artillery (Heavy); New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, 15th Artillery Regiment (Heavy); New York Times, Nov. 28, 1861; New York Times, Aug. 14, 1862; New York Times, June 10, 1863; Frederick Phisterer, New York in the War of the Rebellion, 1861 to 1865 (1890); Adolf Eduard Zucker, The Forty-Eighters: Political Refugees of the German Revolution of 1848 (1950).

My German Ancestors: A Discovery About Family History

This past summer, I got hooked on watching Who Do You Think You Are?  This hour-long TV program on  NBC explores the family histories of modern celebrities like Steve Buscemi and Ashley Judd.  The show actually got me thinking more about my own family, and I finally joined Ancestry.com and began to dig a little deeper.  Given my interest in history, I am surprised I had waited this long to start doing extensive on-line genealogical research. 

Generally speaking, I knew that most of my ancestors on both sides had come to the United States during the great wave of immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  They belonged to those tired, poor, and huddled masses of Italians, Germans, and Eastern Europeans looking for a better life in America.

I decided to start my search with the Baumgarten clan.  My Dad's father had passed away when my Dad was just a kid, so many Baumgartens have only faint knowledge of the family history.   Within a day or so, I discovered that the Baumgartens had come to America's shores prior to the Civil War, and even before the mass influx of Germans in the 1850s.  I was floored to learn that part of my family had arrived in the United States so much earlier than I originally thought.  And now I had my own personal connection to the period of American history that interests me the most.

I suppose I shouldn't have been so surprised.  After all, by 1860, around 1.3 million German immigrants lived in the United States.  They populated cities like Pittsburgh, where my family settled, and St. Louis.  Around 200 German language newspapers and magazines were published across the United States. (Source: Library of Congress, Chronology: The Germans in America.) 

My Great Great Grandfather John Baumgarten was born in Pennsylvania in 1850.  His parents were both from Germany.  My Grandfather, Francis, and Great Grandfather, Frank, were living with John at the time of the 1920 Census.  Going back fifty years, I learned that in 1870, John resided with an "R." Baumgarten and his wife, Elizabeth, in Birmingham, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.  "R." turned out to be Reinhard (or Reinhart) Baumgarten, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1839 to Joseph and Bertha, two German immigrants.  Reinhard eventually made his way to Ashland, Kentucky, where he died in 1911.  The exact relation between Reinhard and John is uncertain, but Reinhard is definitely the family link to Kentucky that I have heard so much about.

View of Pittsburgh from 1857, when John was only a young boy of about seven. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)  Pittsburgh was a center of antebellum industry in the United States and later supplied the Union during the war.

Of course, calculating Reinhard's age during the Civil War, I immediately began to search Union Army records to see if he had enlisted or was drafted.  I turned up no military service records for Reinhard, but just yesterday I located the 1863 draft registration for a "Reinhart  Bomgarding" in Pittsburgh.  The age and place of residence for this person match those for Reinhard.  I have a feeling that "Bomgarding" may be a clerk's mistaken effort to spell "Baumgarten."  (Belive me, even today my family name is misspelled in a variety of curious ways.)  If this person is not one in the same, then I do not yet have the faintest idea as to Reinhard's involvement with the war and the draft.  In any event, Reinhard shows up again in a January 1865 application for a U.S. passport that he sought for travel to Europe.  Whether he made a trip overseas is unknown at this time.

While looking for Reinhard's service record, I came across a William Baumgarten, who enlisted in Co. K, 102nd Pennsylvania Infantry in Pittsburgh in March 1864.  William was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in 1845 to Joseph and Martha Baumgarten. The 102nd Pennsylvania was attached to the Sixth Corps of the Army of the Potomac.  William fought at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg.  He was wounded three times during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864 and was mustered out of service in June 1865. 

"Pittsburgh (Pa.), from Seminary Hill," 1864.   (Courtesy of University of Pittsburgh) 

I am uncertain of a family connection to William, although I'd certainly like to claim an ancestor who served!  William's father has the same name as Reinhard's father, but the mothers' names are different.  Both men were close in age and were from Pittsburgh.  Incidentally, an 1867 directory for the City of Pittsburgh indicates that a William and Reinhard worked at Baumgarten & Brothers Grocers in Birmingham, a neighborhood of Pittsburgh.  This fact may be a coincidence, or perhaps the two men are indeed the same Reinhard and William and are brothers.  My research has just begun, and it may be many years before I have the time and other resources to get the full story of John, Reinhard, William and the other Baumgartens.

All of these findings got me thinking.  So often people speculate as to what their ancestors thought 150 years ago.  Absent letters or diaries, or even oral history, our attempt to understand our ancestors' thoughts and feelings is a difficult one. The questions are many, but the answers are few.  John Baumgarten grew into a teenager during the Civil War.  What did he think about the war at such a young age?  How did his immigrant parents view the war?  Did they support the Union or were they apathetic about the conflict?  What did John, his parents, and Reinhard think about slavery?  Why did Reinhard decide not to answer Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers like so many of his fellow Pennsylvanians?  What did he think about the draft and the draft riots?  Why was he seemingly so removed from events in America that he wanted to travel abroad during the last winter of the war?  Did my Grandfather Francis ever hear stories about the wartime from his Grandfather John?

These answers are now, and likely forever, lost to history.  I can only read about the German-American community during the Civil War and try to understand how the conflict may have affected the Baumgartens of Pittsburgh.  Regardless, I now feel deeply connected to the history of 19th century America and the Civil War in a way that I had not before.  Even if I don't know everything about my ancestors, they serve as a strong personal link to a world long gone.

A Time of Skirmishing: Pohick Church, August 18, 1861

Leafing through my volume of the OR covering the summer and fall of 1861 after First Manassas, I am struck by the number of skirmishes that took place across Northern Virginia. Pick a place, and chances are, something happened there during the last half of 1861. Locations that are better known today for strip malls, soccer fields, and housing developments were the scene of minor but intense clashes between small Union and Confederate forces. 

This upcoming Thursday marks the 150th anniversary of the cavalry skirmish at Pohick Church in Fairfax County involving troopers from the 1st New York Cavalry Regiment.  Pohick Church, about twelves miles south of Alexandria, sat near two roads leading in the direction of Fairfax and Centreville. The Confederates, worried about a Union flanking movement along these roads, always made sure to to guard the area around the church.  The stage was set for an encounter.

Company C of the 1st New York Cavalry left Philadelphia for Washington City on July 22, 1861, the day after the disastrous Federal defeat at Manassas.  The 1st New York Cavalry, also known as the "Lincoln Cavalry," was organized by Carl Schurz, a former German revolutionary of 1848 and confidant of President Lincoln.  Company C, led by Captain William H. Boyd, was comprised of men from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Nine other companies were raised in New York City, and four of them were composed entirely of Germans, Poles, and Hungarians.  The two remaining companies came from Grand Rapids, Michigan and Syracuse, New York.

Company C initially encamped on Capitol Hill, but at the start of August, the troopers left Washington and moved across the Long Bridge to Alexandria  The men settled at Camp Elizabeth on the western side of the town.  The unit reported to Brig. Gen. William B. Franklin, who would later serve as a corps commander in the Army of the Potomac.

On the morning of August 18, 1861, Franklin ordered Boyd  "to proceed on a scout down the Mount Vernon road and vicinity of Accotink, to capture, if possible, 27 cavalry of the enemy."  (OR, Series 1, Vol. 5, Part 1, p. 113.)  The wording of the order is a bit strange and begs the question of why 27? -- presumably an earlier reconnaissance had reported precise numbers of the enemy in that direction.  Boyd set out at 10 a.m. with 46 men, as well as Lt. William Hanson, a Lt. Gibson of Franklin's staff, and Dr. Herrick, a surgeon.

An 1862 sketch of Pohick Church by Union soldier Robert Sneden (courtesy of Virginia Historical Society).   Pohick Church was founded sometime prior to 1724 and served as the first permanent church in colonial Virginia north of the Occoquan River.  The structure standing during the Civil War, and still standing today, was completed in 1774.  George Washington, who supervised the construction, worshipped at Pohick Church.  For more information on the church's history, see here.

The scouting party moved in the direction of Accotink, "interrogating all pedestrians and examining all houses and outbuildings on our way thither." (OR, 1:5:1, p. 114.) At Accotink, Boyd learned that Confederate cavalry had been seen a bit farther west at Pohick Church. Company C rode immediately in the direction of the church. One of the company's advance pickets came rushing back to the main body, shouting to the men that a whole Confederate army was up ahead. This misinformation caused a "stampede" among the men. (OR, 1:5:1, p. 114.) Soon, "another of the advance came on, and his excited manner tended to quicken the pace of the retreating men." (William Harrison Beach, The First New York (Lincoln) Cavalry, from April 19, 1861 to July 7, 1865, p. 36 (1902)). A third picket raced back to inform Boyd, who was now in the rear, that "he had been near enough the rebels to see them all" and that in fact, "[t]here were no more of them than there were in their own company, and he felt sure that our men could whip them." (Beach, p. 36.)

Detail of 1862 Union map of Northeastern Virginia, showing Accotink, Pohick Church, and the surrounding area.  Alexandria is located off the map to the northeast, or upper right.  The full map can be found here (courtesy of Library of Congress).

Learning that his troopers had a fighting chance, Boyd rallied his men, who wheeled around and rode back towards the Confederate cavalry force, about 20 in number.  When he caught site of the enemy along the road, the captain ordered his men forward, and they "shouted, cheered, and charged."  (OR, 1:5:1, p. 114.)  The Union cavalrymen rode towards the enemy, firing their revolvers as they went.  The Rebels got off one volley and fell back.  Company C pursued the retreating Confederates down three separate roads just beyond Pohick Church, but as Boyd reported to Franklin after the skirmish, the enemy cavalrymen "were well mounted, had very superior horses, and were enable to outfoot us."  (OR, 1:5:1, p. 114.) 

Company C experienced light casualties.  Trooper Jacob Erwin was killed and two others were missing after being thrown from their horses.  Erwin is supposedly the first Union volunteer cavalryman killed in the Army of the Potomac. (Beach, p. 37.)  The OR contains no Confederate account of the encounter, and Boyd was not certain of the enemy casualties.  No prisoners were taken.  (The Southern cavalry unit also remains unidentified in the sources I have reviewed.)  Boyd took home a lesson from the skirmish at Pohick Church. As he reported to Franklin,  "[i]t is my opinion that had we some infantry with us we would have been able to outflank them and taken some prisoners." (OR, 1:5:1, p. 114.)

A regimental historian also recalled:

The men of this company never in the four years that followed forgot the lesson of their first fight [at Pohick Church]. In a fight of cavalry against cavalry the advantage is with the party that moves first. It is difficult to withstand the impetus and momentum of a well-directed cavalry charge. There was always a stimulus in a lusty and hearty cheer. The men of the regiment learned that in a charge, the sabre was more effective than the revolver or the carbine. (Beach, p. 37.)

Company C gathered Erwin's body and returned to camp at Alexandria.  The cavalrymen's performance did not go unnoticed.  A few days later, on August 22, Maj. Gen. George B.McClellan praised the men of Company C at a review of Franklin's troops.  By the middle of September, the remainder of the 1st New York Cavalry was in the field around Washington, but Company C would have the honor of being the first to fight.

Note on Additional Sources:

The Glories of War: Small Battles and Early Heroes of 1861, by local historian Charles P. Poland, Jr. has a discussion of the focus of the armies on Pohick Church.

For more information on the 1st New York Cavalry, see the Civil War in the East website (here) and the New York State Military Museum website (here).