172nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment

172nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment 172nd_Pennsylvania_Infantry_regimental_colors.png 172nd Pennsylvania regimental colors. Photo: Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Committee November 29, 1862 to August 1, 1863 United States Union Infantry 1,332 Gettysburg Campaign The 172nd Pennsylvania Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Formation When Pennsylvania did not meet President Lincoln's August 1862 request for 300,000 nine-month volunteers, the Commonwealth drafted (under the Federal Militia Act of 1862 http://slavenorth.com/cw/draft.htm NORTHERN DRAFT of 1862 Douglas Harper The American Civil War January 30, 2021 ) fifteen regiments between mid-October and early December 1862, totaling 15,000 men. All fifteen regiments were mustered out of service by mid-August 1863. Few saw any combat action. http://www.pacivilwarflags.org/regiments/indivRegiment.cfm?group=151-200&reg=172nd%20Infantry 172nd Infantry Regiment Pennsylvania Civil War Battle Flags Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Committee January 29, 2021 The 172nd Pennsylvania Infantry was organized at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (Camp Curtin). The regiment’s soldiers were selected principally from Snyder and Northumberland Counties, with detachments from Clearfield, Elk, McKean, Union, Montour, and Butler Counties.Bates Samuel P. 1870 History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, Vol. IV https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=miun.aby3439.0004.001&view=1up&seq=7 January 30, 2021 B. Singerly, State Printer Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 1182 In all, 1,332 men were mustered into the regiment. https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers.htm#q=%22172nd%20Regiment,%20Pennsylvania%20Infantry%20(Drafted%20Militia)%22 172nd Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry (Drafted Militia), Search for Soldiers The Civil War National Park Service January 30, 2021 By company, most soldiers hailed from the following counties: Company A: Snyder, Northumberland, and Union Company B: Northumberland Company C: Snyder, Elk, Union, and Northumberland Company D: Northumberland Company E: York and Elk Company F: Clearfield, Montour, and Union Company G: Snyder and Union Company H: Northumberland, Montour, and Elk Company I: Snyder Company K: Northumberland https://www.pa-roots.com/pacw/infantry/172nd/172dorg.html 172nd Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry (Drafted Militia) FamilySearch Research Wiki FamilySearch January 30, 2021 Service The regiment mustered in for nine months service between October 27 and November 29, 1862, under the command of Colonel Charles Kleckner. 172nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment https://civilwarintheeast.com/us-regiments-batteries/pennsylvania/172nd-pennsylvania-infantry/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20190309053327/http://civilwarintheeast.com:80/us-regiments-batteries/pennsylvania/172nd-pennsylvania-infantry/ 2019-03-09 January 28, 2021 The Civil War in the East The regiment was assigned to larger formations as follows: Garrison duty at Yorktown, Va. assigned to IV Corps, Department of Virginia, to April 1863 Advance Brigade (West), IV Corps, Dept. of Virginia, to June 1863 3rd Brigade (Kleckner), 1st Division, IV Corps, to July 1863 1st Brigade (Tyndale), 3rd Division, XI Corps, Army of the Potomac, to August 1863. http://www.pacivilwar.com/regiment/172nd.html 172d Pennsylvania Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers of the Civil War January 30, 2021 On the day after their arrival at Yorktown in December 1862 with three other drafted regiments from Pennsylvania, Maj. Gen. Erasmus D. Keyes, IV Corps commander, wrote that he found the regiments to be “perfectly green” and that “none of them are in a condition to meet the enemy.” Thus he assigned the 172nd to the heavy guns at Yorktown and until April 1863 they remained unassigned to any brigade. Official Records, Series I, Vol. XVIII https://collections.library.cornell.edu/moa_new/waro.html Washington Government Printing Office 489 1902 In June 1863, the men of the 172nd offered to re-enlist for six months at the end of their term of service. The War Department originally intended to accept their offer but upon learning that it was contingent upon serving in the Department of the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania, declined, and the regiment mustered out as scheduled on August 1, 1863. Official Records, Series I, Vol. XXVII, Part 3 https://collections.library.cornell.edu/moa_new/waro.html Washington Government Printing Office 187, 204, 222 1889 (correspondence between Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton). Detailed service 1862 Moved to Washington, D.C., December 2. To Newport News. Va., December 4. To Yorktown, Va., December 12. Garrison duty at Yorktown, Va. assigned to IV Corps, Dept. of Virginia, December. 1863 Assigned to Advance Brigade, IV Corps, Dept. of Virginia, April. Maj. Gen. John Dix’s Peninsula Campaign, assigned to 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, IV Corps, June 27-July 7. Ordered to Washington, D.C., July 9, moved to Frederick, Md., July 11. Joined Army of the Potomac at Hagerstown, Md., assigned to 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, XI Corps, July 14. Pursuit of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia from Williamsport, Md.; crossed Potomac at Berlin and marched to Warrenton Junction, Va., July 19–25. Ordered to Harrisburg, Pa., and mustered out under Colonel Kleckner, August 1.See also Official Records, Series I, Vol. XXVII, Part 3, pp. 721-765 (pursuit of Lee). Casualties The regiment lost 13 enlisted men to disease. In addition to those who died, some soldiers were discharged from the regiment due to illness and other reasons and some deserted.See Bates, pp. 1182-96. The strength of the regiment was reported as 671 men on July 16, 1863, after they joined XI Corps.Official Records, Series I, Vol. XXVII, Part 3, p. 709. Commanders The regiment was formed under Colonel Charles Kleckner, Lt. Colonel Thaddeus G. Bogle, and Major M. T. Heintzelman. On December 10, 1862, Lt. Colonel Bogle was discharged and replaced by Lt. Colonel James A. Johnson. The regiment mustered out on August 1, 1863, under Colonel Kleckner. Before serving in the 172nd, Col. Kleckner served as a private in Company K of the 6th Pennsylvania Infantry (in 1861) and then as a first lieutenant in Company D of the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry (in 1861-62). Afterwards he served as a lieutenant colonel in the 184th Pennsylvania Infantry (in 1864-65). After the war, he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives as a Republican, in 1868 and 1869. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/BiosHistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=7535&body=H Charles Kleckner Pennsylvania House of Representatives February 9, 2021 See also American Civil War Pennsylvania List of Pennsylvania Civil War regiments Pennsylvania in the Civil War References Attribution Further reading Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908. Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1863 Category:Military units and formations established in 1862 Category:Units and formations of the Union army from Pennsylvania Category:1862 establishments in Pennsylvania