Permission to Organize a Regiment

 

This letter is the War Department’s notice to Schimmelfennig that they will accept his three year regiment.  The letter is from August of 1861 and Rick Sayre found it within the materials at NARA for the regiment.  A great document.

An example of a DRAFT NOTICE

 

This is Samuel Irwin’s draft notice that was issued on the 9th of July 1863 – probably as the accounts of Gettysburg were being published within Pittsburgh.  Samuel Irwin entered into service on the 9th of July 1863 as a private in Company K and mustered out with the regiment on the 29th of August 1865.  He died in 1920 in Pittsburgh.  Milton Irwin can be contacted for more information.

 

 

Authorization for Passage

Pvt Charles Manitius

 

Here is a scanned copy of an Ebay find – a document authorizing the passage by railroad of Pvt Charles Manitius of the 74th, a bookseller before the war, and Pvt Charles Getter/Tater of the 41st PA Volunteers

 

 

Private Commemoration of Service

 

Daniel Levin, a professional photographer (www.levinphoto.com), provided these images of his ancestor’s commemoration of service.  These types of things were paid for by the service member sometime after being discharged.  Note that Bernard Pichel’s rank is listed here as a corporal.  On the Soldier’s and Sailor’s Monument in Pittsburgh it is listed as a Sergeant.  Daniel is awaiting for the papers from NARA to help solve this mystery – a part of it may be that this was prepared for the family after his death by a Veteran’s organization.  Let’s see what Daniel finds.  Here are the pictures – be patient each is about 100kb in size.

 

 

Extract of Discharge Papers for Pvt. Carl Werneburg

 

This was a Christmas gift from Cheri that I got and it doesn’t scan well.  So, I typed out the document as written and printed.  $13 a month in 1862 – about the same as $227.57 according to the Economic History Service’s How Much is That Worth Today website.  A brief bio is provided courtesy of his descendant Sharon Atkins. 

 

 

Death of John Sweitzer of Company C

 

This material comes from Mindy Eckler via a friend of hers.  It is an extract from a diary in the possession of the Frederick (Md.) County Historical Society.

 

Diary of Jacob Englebert. Jacob was more or less an ordinary citizen that just happened to keep a diray of everything that happened during his life. The Diary comes in two volumes.

I want to share a simple excerpt dated July14, 1862. It comes from Volume II page 941:

Yesterday afternoon I went to my son Phillip's about 3:00 o'clock. A soldier funeral passed on it's way to Mt. Olivet Cemetery. At the head of the procession was Reverend George Diehl and Mr. John Straffer. Then came a Sergeant and 7 privates with guns reversed, the a drummer beating all the time, then came the spring wagon with the corpse and over the coffin was spread the flag of the United States on the side of the wagon were four soldiers w/o arms as carriers. On the pavement a few citizens and soldiers not more than 6 or 8 myself among the rest (of course).  I inquired from one of the carriers and also from some of the soldiers who the man was they were going to bury and from where or whence he came.  Poor fellow!! I inquired afterwards from Mr. William Dovall the keeper of the cemetery (he keeps a list of the deaths), who told me his name was  JOHN SWEITZTER OF THE 74TH Pennsylvania Volunteers Company C and he leaves a wife and 4 children.  Poor fellow so many a soldier dies and is buried unnoticed and unknown. All this owing to the Southern Rebellion. He died July 12, 1862.