THIRTY-SECOND REGIMENT INFANTRY (THIRD RESERVES)

COLONEL HORATIO G. SICKEL to June 17th, 1864.             [post war photo]   ***NEW***

Philadelphia Companies, E, G and K.

Total Enrollment, 338 Officers and Men.

AMONG the numerous companies of volunteers raised in Philadelphia at the outbreak of the war, which were unable to find places in the three months' service, were the De Silver Grays, of Holmesburg; the Germantown Guards and the Ontario Infantry. The captain of the latter was Horatio G. Sickel. These companies became respectively E, G and K of the Third Reserve Regiment which Capt. Sickel commanded as colonel throughout the three years of its service. The "32d" was organized at Easton, Pa., in May, June and July 1861, and under its colonel, an officer of twenty years' experience, rapidly gained in efficiency. The command was mustered at Harrisburg upon July 27th, and sent to the Reserve camp at Tenallytown, near Washington, where it joined the Second Brigade under Brig.-Genl. George Gordon Meade. Entering Virginia with the Reserve Division, the movements of the regiment were identical with those of the 31st or Second Reserve Regiment. In the course of the several battles occurring at Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, White Oak Creek and Charles City Cross Roads within six days, the "32d" lost about two hundred officers and men, killed, wounded or missing, but it inflicted a heavier loss upon the Confederates. At Malvern Hill, upon July 1st, 1862, the regiment was in reserve and had no casualties. The Reserves were moved by water from Harrison's Landing to the Potomac in July, and pushed forward to assist Gen. Pope at Rappahannock Station. This led to the battle of the Second Bull Run, with a resulting heavy loss in the regiment. At South Mountain the "32d" was upon the edge rather than in the thick of the fight, but in the two days' conflict at Antietam lost, in killed and wounded, fifty-one officers and men. At Fredericksburg, on December 13th, the regiment had its part with the Reserve Division on the left, losing, in killed, wounded and missing, one hundred and twenty-eight. This was the regiment's last fight in Virginia. The remnant of survivors were placed in camp near Washington, and attached to the newly formed Twenty-second Corps. The "32d" remained here nearly a year, then, with the Fourth Reserves, both under the command of Col. Sickel, it was sent to meet further warfare in a new field. Under command of Maj. William Briner the "32d" was taken to Martinsburg, West Virginia, and in this section was subjected to an exhausting service far more trying than fighting open battles, as the mountains were infested with the guerilla cavalry of the enemy, and  [Page 70]

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the railroads were in need of constant guarding. In March the Third and Fourth Reserves were sent to Harper's Ferry, but immediately returned to West Virginia, in the vicinity of Grafton, and upon April 22d, 1864, moved by steamers down the Ohio river to the Great Kanawha river, camping at Brownstown, West Virginia. Here Col. Sickel returned to resume command of his old regiment, but was placed by Gen. George Crook in charge of the Reserves brigade. The "32d" was then under command of Capt. Jacob Lenhart. The troops thus assembled formed an expedition intended to destroy the railroad line south of the Allegheny Mountains, over which Gen. Lee's army received the greater portion of its subsistence. This involved a forced march of three weeks in mud, storm and cold, through a wild and desolate country, but the task was accomplished. The chief features of this heroic raid were the battle of Cloyd Mountain, upon May 9th, and of New River, upon the 10th. At Cloyd Mountain the two Reserve regiments lost nearly one hundred officers and men. Among those killed were Col. Richard H. Woolworth, of Philadelphia, formerly Major of the Third Reserves, but at the time, in command of the Fourth Reserves. The wounded were subjected to great suffering in the course of the march, which ended at Meadow Bluff ten days after the battle. Upon May 22d the brigade was ordered home, its term of service having expired. The return occupied nine picturesque, happy days by steamer and rail via Pittsburgh, the brigade reaching Philadelphia upon June 8th, 1864, and there the troops were mustered out upon the 17th of June. The recruits and re-enlisted veterans of the brigade still remaining in the field were formed into a battalion, which subsequently became a part of the 54th Regiment Veteran Volunteer Infantry. This battalion included, out of the two Reserve regiments, one hundred and three Philadelphians, who shared the fortunes of the "54th" to the end of the war.(*)

TOTAL LOSSES (Philadelphia Companies).
 

           Killed or died from wounds                         men, 17.
           Died from disease                   officers, 1;  "         7.
           Wounded, not mortally                                "       16.
           Captured or missing                                    "         8.
 

BATTLES.

Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, Charles City Cross Roads, Glendale, Malvern Hill, Gainesville, Groveton, Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam,  Fredericksburg, Cloyd Mountain, New River Bridge, Newport.
 

           (*)These veterans experienced further service in the Shenandoah
    Valley under Sheridan and in the closing scenes of the siege of Petersburg.
    During the pursuit of Gen. Lee's troops after the fall of Richmond the "54th" was
    captured and held until the capitulation at Appomattox when, after
    considerable hardship, they regained their liberty.

THIRTY-THIRD REGIMENT INFANTRY (FOURTH RESERVES)

COLONEL ROBERT G. MARCH to October 1st, 1861.

COLONEL ALBERT L. MAGILTON to December 3d, 1862.

COLONEL R. H. WOOLWORTH to May 9th, 1864.

COLONEL THOMAS F. B. TAPPER to June 17th, 1864.

Philadelphia Companies A, B, D, I and G.

Total Enrollment, 497 Officers and Men.

FIVE companies from Philadelphia, the Able Guards, Quaker City Guards, Dickson Guards, Reed Guards and Harmer Guards were sent in June, 1861, to the Reserve camp at Easton, Pa., and enrolled with companies from Montgomery, Lycoming, Monroe, Susquehanna and Chester Counties to form this regiment. Fifteen of the field officers were from Philadelphia. The "33d" was mustered in at Harrisburg July 17th, and sent to Baltimore, encamping there at Carroll Hill on July 21st. Part of the command occupied the Stewart mansion in the city, assisting in the suppression of the disloyal element of the population. At the end of August the "33d" moved to the reserve camp at Tenallytown, Md., near Washington. Col. March resigned in October, being replaced by Albert L. Magilton, late Lieut.-Col. of the Second Reserves. Under this experienced officer the regiment improved greatly in drill. The "33d" was, at this time, assigned to the Second Brigade, First Corps. The Brigade commander was Gen. George G. Meade. Eager for active service, the Reserves enterd Virginia upon October 9th. At the battle of Dranesville, Va., twenty-five miles northwest from Washington, upon December 20th, 1861, the "33d" was in the supporting line and not actively engaged, but in the movement under Gen. McClellan, in the costly "on to Richmond" campaign, between Mechanicsville and Malvern Hill the "33d" lost two hundred officers and men, chiefly during a desperate bayonet fight in defence of Randall's battery at Gaines' Mill. These inexperienced troops drove back the on-rush of seasoned Alabamians and saved the guns. Under Pope, the "33d" fought at the second Bull Run and at South Mountain, Md., on the way to Antietam. In the two battles of the Antietam campaign the regiment lost seventy-five officers and men, killed and wounded. Three months later, at Fredericksburg, Va., upon December 13th, the Reserve Division, led by Gen. Meade, charged the Confederate right wing with success. Here the "33d" lost thirty-eight killed and wounded. A few days later Col. Magilton resigned and Lieut.-Col. Richard H. Woolworth assumed command. This officer was commissioned as Colonel in the following March. The Reserve Division was placed upon routine duty in the defences [Page 71]

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of Washington, remaining here nearly a year. Upon January 6th, 1864, the "33d" was sent to join the force in West Virginia, then concentrating under Major-Gen. George Crook, in the Kanawha Valley. The services of the regiment, in the exhausting but successful expedition southeastward across the Allegheny Mountains, were identical with those of the Third Reserves. At Cloyd Mountain, Va., Col. Woolworth, leading the brigade, and Capt. Prosper M. Davis were killed. At New River Bridge, Va., May 10th, 1864, the "33d" had its final meeting with the enemy. After a few days of rest the regiment, with such of its wounded as could be transported, was sent via the Ohio river and Pittsburg to Philadelphia, where it was mustered out upon June 17th, 1864.

Just prior to the dissolution of the regiment a portion of the men re-enlisted in a battalion, which was subsequently merged with the 54th Regiment Infantry. This additional service included fifty-seven men from the Philadelphia companies of the Fourth Reserves.

TOTAL LOSSES (Regimental).
 

           Killed or died from wounds   officers, 2; men, 76

           Died from disease                       "       1;    "    60 

    **** See Cloyd Mountain Casualties for the 4th PA Reserves as well as some deaths and casualties since joining the Kanawha Division of the Army of West Virginia****  [click here]
 

BATTLES AND ENGAGEMENTS

Dranesville, Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, Savage Station, Charles City Cross Roads, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Fredericksburg, Cloyd Mountain, New River.
 

 
3rd Pennsylvania Reserves
Post War Photo