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BTC Notes: The Campfire Chronicles: The Words and Deeds of the 88th Pennsylvania 1861-1865

Note: The BTC Notes series serves as a way to gather important information about a given source on the Siege of Petersburg like a book, article, essay, map, etc.

The Campfire Chronicles: The Words and Deeds of the 88th Pennsylvania 1861-1865 by Michael N. AyoubSubject: The Campfire Chronicles: The Words and Deeds of the 88th Pennsylvania 1861-1865 by Michael N. Ayoub

Order of Battle

  • June 13: General Baxter commands 2/3/V/AotP1
  • Aug. 15: Colonel Coulter, 11th PA, assumes command of 2/3/V/AotP2
  • Aug. 18: Colonel Coulter relieved of brigade command at end of day, and Col. Wheelock of the 97th NY takes over.3
  • Aug. 25: First and Second Brigades, Third Division, Fifth Corps are combined and called the Second Brigade, Third Division, Fifth Corps.  A new First Brigade is formed out of the 190th and 191st Pennsylvania regiments, all that is left of the famous Pennsylvania Reserves.4
  • Aug. 29: BG Baxter returns to command of 2/3/V/AotP5
  • Mar. 16: The 88th PA is moved to the Third Brigade, Third Division, Fifth Corps, and Ayoub indicates the 88th and 56th Pennsylvania were combined into one unit in the field. Brigade commander Coulter’s report on Five Forks does show the two regiments as “consolidated.”  Dyer’s Compendium disagrees that the two units were combined, at least officially.  More research is needed.6

Battle Excerpts

  • N/A. Not in the public domain.

Leaders

  • June 15: Captain Houder commanding on CMR, but Lt. Col. Haines of the 11th PA “officially” in command7
  • June 26, 1864: Captain Patterson commanding per CMR8
  • August 17: Major Sheafer of the 107th PA turns over command to Captain Jacob Houder. 9
  • Aug. 19: After Houder’s death, Major Henry J. Sheafer of the 107th PA again resumes command.10
  • Aug. 25: Captain Edmund Y. Patterson seems to have taken over for Sheafer by at least August 25.11
  • Sept. 5: Captain Henry Whiteside is now in command of the 88th PA.12
  • Oct. 1: Captain Whiteside, who had been in command, is mustered out. First Lt. Lawrence takes command.13
  • Oct. 10: Adjutant Cyrus Detre, now commanding the regiment, mentions ninety new recruits have joined the 88th PA.14
  • Oct. 19: Captain Joseph Lawrence assumes command of 88th PA.15
  • Nov. 13: Captain Lawrence is appointed acting commander, but his abilities are questioned, and soon (when exactly?), Lt. Col. Haines of the 11th PA is assigned to command.16
  • Nov. 22: Captain Lawrence goes away on a leave of absence.  Adjutant Detre assumes command of the 88th PA.17
  • Dec. 4: Acting commander Cyrus Detre is discharged.18
  • Dec. 7: Captain Lawrence commands the regiment.19
  • Dec. 10: Captain Lawrence is in command of the regiment.20
  • Feb. 6: Lt. Col. Haines is wounded while leading the 88th PA and Capt. Aaron Bright assumes command.21
  • Feb. 12: Aaron Bright commands the regiment and files the CMR.22
  • Mar. 16: Major Henry A. Laycock of the 56th PA is placed in command of the combined 56th/88th PA.23
  • See page 351 for leaders of 88th PA throughout Siege of Petersburg, but some errors seem to have crept in.  These names and dates don’t always match with the text.24

Leader Images

  • N/A.  Book is not in public domain.

Strengths

  • 166 officers and men PFD (June 10, 1864)25
  • 121 officers and men PFD (not including Co. D, which did not report) (June 16, 1864)26
  • 99 officers and men PFD (not including Co. D, which did not report) (June 26, 1864)27
  • 173 officers and men PFD (August 17, 1864)28
  • 138 officers and men PFD (August 28, 1864)29
  • 122 officers and men PFD (September 13, 1864)30
  • 121 officers and men PFD (October 5, 1864)31
  • 195 officers and men PFD (February 5, 1865)32
  • 178 officers and men PFD (February 12, 1865)33
  • The combined 56th/88th PA had 323 officers and men PFD on April 1, 1865.34

Weapons

  • None listed.

Battles

  • Skirmish at White Oak Swamp (June 13, 1864)35

Other

  • July 11: Col. Phineas S. Davis of 39th MA wounded by artillery fire. Lt. Col. Henry Tremlett takes over.36
  • Nov. 26: The 90th PA is mustered out.37
  • Mar. 31: Three of Coulter’s regimental commanders were wounded: Lt. Col. Dailey of the 147th NY, Lt. Col. Warren of the 142nd PA, Major Fish of the 94th NY.38

 

Itinerary

Sources:

  1. Ayoub, Michael N. The Campfire Chronicles: The Words and Deeds of the 88th Pennsylvania, 1861-1865. Xlibris, 2010, p. 272. ↩
  2. Ibid., p. 295. ↩
  3. Ibid., p. 297. ↩
  4. Ibid., p. 304. ↩
  5. Ibid., p. 305. ↩
  6. Ibid., p. 326. ↩
  7. Ibid., p. 277. ↩
  8. Ibid., p. 285. ↩
  9. Ibid., p. 295. ↩
  10. Ibid., p. 299. ↩
  11. Ibid., pp. 299, 304. ↩
  12. Ibid., p. 307. ↩
  13. Ibid., p. 311. ↩
  14. Ibid., p. 311. ↩
  15. Ibid., p. 312. ↩
  16. Ibid., p. 314. ↩
  17. Ibid., p. 314. ↩
  18. Ibid., p. 315. ↩
  19. Ibid., p. 317. ↩
  20. Ibid., pp. 318-319. ↩
  21. Ibid., p. 323. ↩
  22. Ibid., p. 325. ↩
  23. Ibid., p. 326. ↩
  24. Ibid., p. 351. ↩
  25. Ibid., p. 270. ↩
  26. Ibid., p. 277. ↩
  27. Ibid., p. 285. ↩
  28. Ibid., p. 295. ↩
  29. Ibid., p. 305. ↩
  30. Ibid., p. 307. ↩
  31. Ibid., p. 311. ↩
  32. Ibid., p. 322. ↩
  33. Ibid., p. 325. ↩
  34. Ibid., p. 326. ↩
  35. Ibid., p. 274 ↩
  36. Ibid., p. 288. ↩
  37. Ibid., p. 315. ↩
  38. Ibid., p. 328. ↩

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