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This regiment, recruited in the Wyoming Valley during the summer and fall of 1862, was organized at a camp near Wilkes-Barre in early October. Upon arrival in Washington a month later, the 143rd encamped near Fort Slocum, remaining in the city’s defenses until mid-February 1863. A state color, supplied by Horstmann Brothers in early November, probably was sent tot he regiment while at Washington. In February 1863, the 143rd joined the Army of the Potomac and was assigned to the Second Brigade, Third Division, First Corps. This brigade, led by former Bucktail Colonel Roy Stone, consisted of two other Pennsylvania regiments - the 149th and 150th - organized as new Bucktail units. Both regiments initially looked down upon the outsiders assigned to their brigade, and at times the 143rd received the worst camping ground and most menial details from the brigade commander. Although the regiment was under fire during the Chancellorsville Campaign (April - May), it was not seriously engaged with the enemy.   However, the 143rd fought gallantly in its first major battle at Gettysburg on July 1. Here, with the other regiments of Stone’s Brigade, the 143rd contested with the grayclad troops of Lieutenant-General Ambrose P. Hill’s Third Corps of Lee’s Army. Posted near the Chambersburg Pike west of town, the regiment held on until forced to retreat by more numerous enemy troops. As the 143rd began to retire, the Color-Sergeant Benjamin Crippen (Company E) kept turning around to shake his fist at the oncoming Confederates, daring them to take his flag. Young Crippen paid with his life, and all but two of the guards went down as well. General Hill, accompanied by his staff and some foreign observers, saw Crippen at a distance and praised his bravery. Hill also regretted Crippen’s demise.  When Crippen fell dead, Corporal Owen Phillips of Company B, the only unscathed member of the color-guard , retrieved the fallen state color. He also seized the fallen blue regimental color and took both flags as the survivors fell back. In addition to his burden, Phillips neglected to throw down his rifle. Colonel Edmund L. Dana spied the brave corporal struggling to carry all three items and asked why he had not discarded his musket. Phillips replied that he was more familiar with his musket than with the a flag. Dana, impressed with the man’s coolness under fire, lightened Phillips’s load by taking one of the flags. In recognition of his bravery, Phillips was promoted to Sergeant to rank from July 1. ) Although the regiment was under fire both on July 2 and 3, it suffered negligible loss. Of the 465 officers and men present in the ranks on July 1, 253 were casualties. However, the regiment saved both its flags, the only regiment in the brigade to do so.
Following the Gettysburg Campaign, the regiment took part in the October Bristoe Station Campaign. During the ensuing November operations at Mine Run, the division was detached to guard the supply base at Manassas Junction. Winter quarters were erected near Culpeper. When the First Corps was discontinued in March 1864, the brigade was incorporated into the Fifth Corps, with which it remained during the 1864-65 Virginia Campaign. When this campaign opened, the 143rd engaged the enemy in the Wilderness (May5-6), suffering more than two hundred casualties. Sometime during this struggle, Sergeant Phillips fell mortally wounded. He fell into Rebel hands, and lingered perhaps three days before expiring. During the Spotsylvania operations (May 8-18), the 143rd fought primarily on May 8, 10-11, and 13, losing seventy-three soldiers. During the fighting along the North Anna River on May 23, the regiment almost lost its flag to the enemy. A confederate attack hit the brigade line and caused a temporary setback. Owing to several factors, the 143rd split into two sections. The main part of the unit retreated, but a number of the men failed to hear the order to retire. Sergeant Patrick DeLacy of Company A rallied these men about the colors at an old fence running at right angles to the main line. Although the foot soldiers managed to halt
the enemy advance, Union artillery began to fire also, endangering DeLacy’s detachment. To add to their predicament, blueclad infantry also started firing at the enemy as the afternoon sun set. Risking his life, DeLacy ran out between lines and stopped the friendly fire. When he reached the main line, DeLacy had the flag and a few 143rd comrades with him. At that moment, the color-bearer was shot down. The sergeant retrieved the flag when Private Merrit Coughlin (Company K) stepped up and asked for the banner. This soldier had gotten into some sort of trouble previously and had been reduced in the ranks. He wished to redeem his reputation, and carried the flag throughout the rest of the fighting. DeLacy’s party remained in the line until the morning of the twenty-fourth, when they rejoined the regiment. Major Chester K. Hughes was overjoyed to see DeLacy and the flag, which he had thought was lost. After fighting at Cold Harbor, the regiment took part in the initial assaults on the Petersburg defenses (June 18). Thereafter, the 143rd took its turn in the trench lines dug by the Union troops, occasionally taking part in the Fifth Corps maneuvers against the enemy railroads supplying Petersburg. The regiment fought at the Weldon Railroad (August 18-21) and Boydton Plank Road (October 27-28). A few days after the combat at Hatcher’s Run (February 5-7, 1865), the regiment, together with three other under strength regiments from the brigade, was withdrawn from the front and sent north. The 143rd went to Hart’s Island, New York to guard the draft rendezvous camp located there. It remained in this service until mustered out of service on June 12. The state color was initially left in Harrisburg, but borrowed by Colonel Dana for use in the Independence Day ceremonies in Wilkes-Barre. It was returned to the adjutant-general’s officer and was present in the 1866 Philadelphia ceremony.  This replacement color was completed by Horstmann Brothers in late January 1865. It was sent to the Honorable John Reichard, an associate judge of Luzerne County, whose son served in the 143rd. Judge Reichard in turn forwarded the flag tot he regiment. It, too, was present in the 1866 ceremony.
) This blue flag was apparently the one carried at Gettysburg and retrieved by Corporal Phillips. It was carried by the 143rd until the opening of the 1864 Virginia Campaign. At this time, Oliver K. Moore, formerly a captain in the regiment until he resigned due to ill health, visited the regiment just before the campaign started. When he returned to Wilkes-Barre, he brought this banner along with him, in accordance with the wishes of Colonel Dana and his men. It remained in Wilkes-Barre until August 1865, when Dana sent it to the state together with the first state color. ) This blue flag was apparently the one carried at Gettysburg and retrieved by Corporal Phillips. It was carried by the 143rd until the opening of the 1864 Virginia Campaign.  At this time, Oliver K. Moore, formerly a captain in the regiment until he resigned due to ill health, visited the regiment just before the campaign started. When he returned to Wilkes-Barre, he brought this banner along with him, in accordance with the wishes of Colonel Dana and his men. It remained in Wilkes-Barre until August 1865, when Dana sent it to the state together with the first state color.  On September 4, 1862, the citizens of Schultzville presented a “beautiful and costly” silk flag to Captain Joseph H. Sornberger’s company. No other documentation has been found to shed additional light on this banner. In addition to the names mentioned in the text, two others have been identified as bearers for one of the regiment’s flags. Sergeant W. H. Harden’s 1906 obituary lists this man as a bearer. In 1866, Sergeant Thomas Dakin of Company C was one of the bearers. "Advance the Colors!" - Pennsylvania Civil War Battle Flags. Volume II, Pages 435-438. Author Richard A. Sauers ~ Capitol Preservation Committee  |