Scott Hanko
Philadelphia Brigade Monument
The Philadelphia Brigade (also known as the California Brigade) was a Union Army brigade that served in the American Civil War. It was raised primarily in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with the exception of the 106th regiment which contained men from [Lycoming] and [Bradford] counties.
The regiments in the Philadelphia Brigade were originally designated as California regiments. Some residents on the West Coast wanted California to have a military presence in the Eastern army and asked Oregon Senator Edward D. Baker to form a regiment to be credited to that state. Baker was able to recruit a regiment from Philadelphia, designated the 1st California. By October, he increased his command to a brigade, adding the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th California regiments, all of which were from Philadelphia.[1] After his death at the Battle of Ball's Bluff, Pennsylvania claimed the regiments as its own and renamed them as the 69th, 71st, 72nd, and 106th Pennsylvania.
Now commanded by Brig. Gen. William W. Burns, it was then assigned to the Army of the Potomac's II Corps as the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division. It fought in the Peninsula Campaign, during which the 69th was credited by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker with making "the first successful bayonet charge of the war."
At the Battle of Antietam, the brigade, now commanded by Brig. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, was part of Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick's attack near the West Woods. The division ran into stiff resistance and was then attacked in the flank. Most of the division was routed, including the Philadelphia Brigade. Some companies had no time to fire before being caught up in the rout. The brigade lost 545 men in as little as ten minutes. In the Battle of Fredericksburg the following December, the brigade participated in the assault on Marye's Heights. During the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, Brig. Gen. John Gibbon's division (of which the brigade was a part) initially remained in their winter camps to act "as a decoy while the rest of the army marched." On May 3, the division supported Major General John Sedwick's attack on the Confederate rearguard at Fredericksburg and remained in the city afterwards to guard the city and the bridges across the river.
During the war, the brigade lost 3,409 men out of a total 5,320 men who served in the unit, a casualty rate of 64%.
Antietam Battlefield-Sharpsburg Md.
Philadelphia Brigade Monument
The Philadelphia Brigade (also known as the California Brigade) was a Union Army brigade that served in the American Civil War. It was raised primarily in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with the exception of the 106th regiment which contained men from [Lycoming] and [Bradford] counties.
The regiments in the Philadelphia Brigade were originally designated as California regiments. Some residents on the West Coast wanted California to have a military presence in the Eastern army and asked Oregon Senator Edward D. Baker to form a regiment to be credited to that state. Baker was able to recruit a regiment from Philadelphia, designated the 1st California. By October, he increased his command to a brigade, adding the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th California regiments, all of which were from Philadelphia.[1] After his death at the Battle of Ball's Bluff, Pennsylvania claimed the regiments as its own and renamed them as the 69th, 71st, 72nd, and 106th Pennsylvania.
Now commanded by Brig. Gen. William W. Burns, it was then assigned to the Army of the Potomac's II Corps as the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division. It fought in the Peninsula Campaign, during which the 69th was credited by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker with making "the first successful bayonet charge of the war."
At the Battle of Antietam, the brigade, now commanded by Brig. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, was part of Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick's attack near the West Woods. The division ran into stiff resistance and was then attacked in the flank. Most of the division was routed, including the Philadelphia Brigade. Some companies had no time to fire before being caught up in the rout. The brigade lost 545 men in as little as ten minutes. In the Battle of Fredericksburg the following December, the brigade participated in the assault on Marye's Heights. During the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, Brig. Gen. John Gibbon's division (of which the brigade was a part) initially remained in their winter camps to act "as a decoy while the rest of the army marched." On May 3, the division supported Major General John Sedwick's attack on the Confederate rearguard at Fredericksburg and remained in the city afterwards to guard the city and the bridges across the river.
During the war, the brigade lost 3,409 men out of a total 5,320 men who served in the unit, a casualty rate of 64%.
Antietam Battlefield-Sharpsburg Md.