"...like statues of iron"        

          The 79th Pennsylvania was raised in Lancaster County in September of 1861.  They did not drill but basically formed and moved off to Camp Curtin, near Harrisburg for equipping and outfitting.  There were ten companies, nine of which were from Lancaster County, and the tenth, Co. D, was the Washington Rifles from Washington County.  The Colonel of the Regiment was Henry Hambright, a veteran of the War with Mexico.  Many of the officers and non-coms were men who had served in one of the 90-Day Regiments formed in the spring of 1861 after Lincoln's first call for troops.  These men served in the 1st Pennsylvania and the 15th Pennsylvania, and saw little or no action.  Others were men who were members of the local militia groups before the war, such as the Lancaster Fencibles, and the Jackson Rifles.  These militia unit members and the men who served in the 90-day regiments became the cadre for the 79th.  Due to this experience, the 79th was one of the more dependable, and solid regiments.  In October the regiment left Camp Curtin and traveled by train to Pittsburgh where Governor Andrew G. Curtin commissioned the regiment and presented it with its colors.  The regiment was teamed with the 77th and 78th Pennsylvania briefly as the Pennsylvania Brigade, under Brigadier General J. S. Negley.  They left Pittsburgh by riverboat and sailed along the banks of the Ohio, landing in Kentucky. There they took up residence in Camp Negley, where they did their training.  

          The 79th first saw action in isolated skirmishes in Kentucky and Tennessee, under Major General Don Carlos Buell.   When the 77th and 78th went with Buell to Shiloh in April of 1862, the 79th remained behind guarding bridges.  At this time they formed the 28th Brigade, Army of the Ohio, with the 1st and 21st Wisconsin Infantry, and the 24th Illinois.  In the fall of the year, General Braxton Bragg's Confederate invasion of Kentucky brought the 28th Brigade, under command of Wisconsin attorney, Colonel John C. Starkweather, to the small Kentucky town of Perryville.  There, on October 8, 1862, the armies of Bragg and Buell clashed along the banks of the Chaplin River.  While much fighting occurred in the center of both armies' lines, with the Confederates doing the attacking, it was on the Union left where the battle was decided.  Shortly after 1 p.m., the 28th Brigade took position on the extreme left of the Union line, and immediately was assaulted by the brigades of George E. Maney and Alexander P. Stewart (both Tennessee Brigades under the command of General Benjamin F. Cheatham).  The men of the 28th Brigade, anchored by the 79th Pennsylvania, stood their ground for several hours of vicious assaults by the Tennesseans.  Eventually, flanking movements by Confederate cavalry units under Col. John A. Wharton moving around to their left made the brigade's position untenable, and Starkweather ordered a withdrawal.  The 79th Pennsylvania stood for one more assault as the covering force for the move, and then withdrew while still engaged with the enemy.  Eventually breaking contact, but still pursued, the regiment fell back to rejoin the brigade.  During the maneuver, elements of the regiment laid several ambuscades which quite effectively delayed the enemy.  Once in line of battle with the brigade, the regiment again withstood heavy losses during several more assaults by the Confederates.  In the end, the Confederates withdrew, leaving the battlefield to the Union, and departing Kentucky within days, abandoning their efforts to install a Confederate government in Frankfort.  Only the 10th Ohio, and the 98th Ohio, which fought on the right of the 79th Pennsylvania, suffered more casualties than the Pennsylvanians.  Entering the battle with 610 rifles, the 79th lost 40 men killed, 146 men wounded, 30 missing or captured for an aggregate of 216 casualties.  The 1st Wisconsin, which fought on the left of the regiment, lost 204 men.  A reporter filed a story about the battle to the Lancaster newspaper, and described the heroic stand of the 79th as being like "statues of iron". 

          One of those wounded at Perryville was Private William T. Clark, of Drumore Township, Lancaster County.  Clark maintained a diary* from the day he enlisted to about six months after returning home in 1865.  He never missed a day.  Here is an excerpt giving his account of the battle:

          Clark would indeed see many sights even more horrific than those he witnessed at Perryville.  He finished the war as Regimental Commissary Sergeant, and died many years later, in part as a result of his wounds, and in part from the malaria he caught while serving in the regiment.  His image is on the Photo Gallery page.

          The 79th licked its wounds in Nashville that autumn; and during the Stones River campaign in December, the brigade was ordered to protect the supply wagon train of the right wing of Major General William S. Rosecrans' Army of the Ohio on it's march south towards Murfreesboro and the waiting Army of Tennessee under Braxton Bragg.  On the night of the 28/29 December, 1862, as the 116 wagons were coming into camp for the night 3,500 troopers of Confederate Cavalry commander General Joseph Wheeler attacked it.  Wheeler's men had earlier raided and destroyed the main wagon train of Rosecrans army, burning what they didn't carry off.  The 28th Brigade drove off Wheeler's men while suffering minimal losses of 10 wagons burned, and 7 damaged.  Later, the 79th was posted in the rifle pits of the center of the Union lines during the battle.  They saw little action, and suffered light casualties from snipers and artillery. 

          Later the next year, after Rosecrans masterfully maneuvered Bragg out of Chattanooga, the Army of the Tennessee (formerly the Army of the Ohio), once again met the Army of Tennessee (still under General Braxton Bragg) just west of the Chickamauga Creek.  While the right wing of Rosecrans army, and Rosecrans himself, were swept from the field by Longstreet's ferocious assault on Sunday morning, September 20th, the Union left, under the command of Major General George H. Thomas steadfastly refused to give any ground.  And the anchor of Thomas' line, along what is now Battleline Road, in the "Keystone" position was the gallant 79th Pennsylvania.  Time after time the Confederates charged into the edge of the woods at Thomas's lines.  And each time they were driven off.  Fighting with no protection except their own packs off their backs, the 79th repelled many assaults from their old foes from Tennessee. 

          Demoralized the day before when savage artillery and friendly fire forced their withdrawal, and later the loss of nearly half the regiment to captivity, the regiment reformed along the Lafayette Road, and determined not to allow itself to be driven from its position again.  Overnight, many of the captured members of the regiment simply got up and walked back to their regiment past exhausted Confederate guards.  Stories of the fighting during the night of the 19th, near Crawfish Spring (perhaps the only source of water for the Union Army as the Confederates held the creek) tell of the horrifying march through the woods, their way lit by the flashes of Rebel artillery.  The shells burst overhead in the treetops, showering the men with splinters and shrapnel.  But the real test of the 79th was to come on Sunday the 20th.

          Near sunset on Sunday the 20th, and now out of ammunition, the 79th repelled the next two attacks by hand-to-hand fighting, and the bayonet.  Thomas, astride his horse in their rear, ordered them to withdraw, and they refused.  Then he thanked them for their duty that day, and told them their work had bought precious time for Rosecrans and the bulk of the army to retreat to Chattanooga, and it was time to leave and rejoin the rest of the army.  The regiment quietly acquiesced, and made their way via Rossville to Chattanooga.  Again, their losses were traumatic.  Entering the fight with about 360 rifles, they lost nearly one-third their strength.  One member of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel David Miles, was captured at Chickamauga and sent to the infamous Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia.  He eventually made a successful escape, and after rejoining the regiment, wound up commanding it by the end of the war.  After the war, when the regiment returned to Lancaster, the men formed their Grand Army of the Republic post and named it in honor of the man they had helped earn the nickname of "Rock of Chickamauga", Major General George Henry Thomas.  He visited a few times and was well honored on each occasion. 

The 79th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry Regiment Monument on Battleline Road at Chickamauga Battlefield, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park in southern Tennessee and northwest Georgia.    The acorn on the base is the symbol of the 14th Army Corps, commanded by Major General George H. Thomas.  The statuary represents the saving of the Colors by Sergeant William F. Dostman of Company H, on September 19, 1863, the first day of the battle.  Dostman was killed in the action.  Photo courtesy of "zenyram".

Detail of the base of the monument.  The 79th's casualties (Killed, Wounded, Missing) are listed here as 137 out of 390 men.  That is over 33%.  Photo courtesy of "zenyram".     

          The 79th became a part of the reorganized Army of the Cumberland, under General Thomas, now assigned to the 14th Corps under Major General J. M. Palmer, in the First Division under Brigadier General Richard Johnson.  Brigadier General Starkweather's Third Brigade now swelled with new units in addition to the original four, including the 37th Indiana, the 21st and 74th Ohio, and the 78th Pennsylvania.  The Brigade took no part in the Battles of Chattanooga (Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge), being held in reserve, but did suffer with the rest of the army during the siege of that city for two months prior to the opening of the "Cracker Line" of supplies by Major General Ulysses S. Grant.  The unit saw little action for the next few months.  In the spring of 1864 they received a 45-day furlough in exchange for re-enlisting for the duration.  They returned to Lancaster to festive banquets, parades, and quiet times with their families.  In May they returned to northwest Georgia, and joined the forces of Major General William T. Sherman on his campaign to capture Atlanta.  For the next four and a half months the brigade was constantly in contact with the enemy, and on the move, fighting engagements at Tunnel Hill, Ringgold, Kennesaw Mountain, Marietta, Buzzard's Roost, Rocky Face Ridge, Dalton, Snake Creek Gap, Resaca, Allatoona Pass, New Hope Church, Jonesboro, and on July 20th, the 79th, with an Ohio Regiment, led the countercharge at dusk across Peach Tree Creek, driving the Rebs from their defenses.  Led that day by Captain William McCaskey of Company B, the regiment was praised in dispatches.  The 79th went through Atlanta after its fall, and formed up for the six-week March to the Sea. 

          Presidential election time found the 79th preparing for the March to the Sea.  Soldiers in the field were to be able to vote, and the diarist, then Corporal Clark*, took to the task of setting up and recording the election results in the regiment with great relish: 

	Thurs., Nov. 3rd
	Morning wet. 9th Penna. Cavalry came here today, a large force of Cav. is being here, Gen. Kilpatrick in command Copies of that Vile Copperhead Sheet "Lancaster Intelligencer" came here today from "Kinsers Station" on the Penna. Central R.R. It condemns every act of our Army in maintaining the Government & crushing out Rebellion, while they have no fault to find with their better Southern Brethren in arms against us.
	Fri., Nov. 4th
	Received our Poll Books & Ballots this morning. Jacob Siverd of Co. B is promoted to Chief Bugler of the 79th P.V. & will now receive 22$ per month. An expedition is organizing here for a great raid, to consist of two Divs. of Inft. & two of Cav. I received two letters, one from Sister containing 8 Postage Stamps, one sheet paper & one envelope, the other from Cousin Bell W. Black. The former telling me of Agnes sending me some stamps, 12 in number, in letter which I have not received. Father sold his cattle for 75$ a head. Yesterday we had stewed chicken for dinner & today a goose in the same style. Cos. A & G are guarding the R.R. bridge near Allatoona Station. Wrote to Sister Rettie. John C. Rutter has not been here for some days & is not on duty at present. Wrote to Cousin Bell W. Black. Pay Rolls are being signed, we expect to be paid tomorrow Orders to be ready to move at short notice.
	Mon., Nov. 7th
	Dr. Geo. Markly is here & will take the returns of the Election home & our money with him. I am sending to my Father 170$ by him, one $100 7 3/10 Treasury Note, one $50 compound interest 6 per-cent semi-annually note & one $20 of same kind, Our Regt. is in town doing Provost Duty & patrolling the town. Attend a show in town tonight.
	Tues., Nov. 8th
	Our Quarters are taken to hold Co. B’s Election. John F. Luck, Edwin Ayars & myself are Judges, Scott P. Lytle & John W. Keller are Clerks. We poll for Co. B. 35 votes for Lincoln & 6 for McClellan; Co. A poll for Lincoln 23 votes, for McClellan 5 votes; Co. C for Lincoln 18 votes, for McClellan 2 votes; Co. D 10 for L., 1 for Mac; Co. E 32 for Lincoln, 4 for Mac; Co. F for Lincoln 12 votes, for McClellan 6 votes; Co. G for Lincoln 8 votes for McClellan 6 votes; Co. H for Lincoln 23 votes, for McClellan 3 votes; Co. I gave 17 for Lincoln, for McClellan 2 votes; K Co. gave 33 votes for Lincoln, for McClellan 1 vote. I am sending my letter to Agnes by Dr. Markley. Wrote to Father. Majority Lincoln 172 in 79th P.V.

          Upon arrival at Savannah, the 79th was the first unit into the city vacated by the Confederates.   Bolstered with new recruits, and once again over six hundred strong, the 79th led the center Corps of Sherman's army while it pursued Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston north through the Carolinas.  On March 19, 1865, the trap was sprung by Johnston at Bentonville, North Carolina, and as usual, our gallant Pennsylvanians were in the thick of it, being in the lead of their column, and the unit on which the trap was sprung.  It was too little, too late for Johnston and the Confederates, however, and after some initial confusion during which the 79th was forced to withdraw under fire the Union troops regained the initiative and Johnston withdrew. (There is an unsubstantiated report of one of the 79th's officers running with the retreating regiment, and lagging behind, finding himself side-by-side with a charging Rebel Officer.  After a surprised exchange of glances, our man found refuge in a bush, and sat out the battle until the Union forces regrouped and retook the ground.) The Regiment took more casualties that day. 

          When the war ended, Sherman's army was marched back to Washington by way of the major battlefields in Virginia, and Richmond, so the soldiers could get an idea of what the Army of the Potomac had been through.  They took part in the second day of the Grand Review in Washington, and were mustered out on the 12th of July, 1865.  The regiment took the train to Philadelphia where they mustered at Camp Cadwalader for their final pay and to settle accounts, arriving there on the 15th.  On the 18th the men were paid, and arrangements made to form up one last time the next morning to take the train to Lancaster.   The men had finally had enough and took the trains on their own, arriving in Lancaster that night, to quiet journies to their homes and loved ones at last. 

          The regiment acquitted itself well in four years of fighting in the deep south.  The 79th also gave dearly of its men in the cause of Union and Emancipation.  They rank in the top ten percent of Union regiments for losses.  They were favorites with their commanders, and in turn, were fiercely loyal to the generals who commanded them.  Post war visits to Lancaster by General Thomas, General Rosecrans, and General Rousseau (an early commander) prompted reunions and celebratory banquets.  They were one of the main regiments involved in the 30th year reunion of the Battle of Chickamauga, raising one of the more poignant monuments on that battlefield at the scene of their glory on September 20th, 1863.

They were indeed, "Statues of Iron"

No official regimental history has ever been written.

*  The Diaries of Sergeant William T. Clark, Seventy-Ninth Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry Regiment, October, 1861 - November, 1865, transcribed by William G. Davis and Janet B. Davis for the Lancaster County (PA) Historical Society, 1989.