This volume includes the complete text of two orations made at the reunion as well as a history of the regiment. There are many details concerning the formation, the logistics, and the tasks of the 122d Regiment.
Battle field and prison pen, or Through the war, and thrice a prisoner in rebel dungeons. A graphic recital of personal experiences throughout the whole period of the late war for the Union
xi, [1], 13-633 p. incl. plates, front., plates, ports.
Notes
Other editions published under titles, "Battle field and prison pen," "Through the war and thrice a prisoner in rebel dungeons."
Contents
Contents : The Overt Act of Treason and It's effect North and South --- Advance of the Grand Army From Washington and It's Defeat at Bull Run --- Departure of McClellan's Army For the Peninsula --- Advance of McDowell From Washington --- The Seven Days Fight On the Peninsula -- My First Capture --- Army of The Potomac and McClellan's Defence of The Capital --- Extravagant Errors, Halleck and Stanton In Control --- General Lee's Invasion of Pennsylvania and The Battle of Gettysburg --- Northern Campaign, Confederate Authorities Desperate --- Battle of The Wilderness , Our Capture and Recapture --- Advance of Grant's Forces -- Andersonville --- Hanging of The Thieves --- Enlargement of Our Prison --- Andersonville In August --- Millen Prison --- Florence Prison --- St. John's Gollege Hospital
Summary
The author tells of his experiences in the Civil War, including time spent in Confederate prisons.
The General Thomas Welsh Family Papers is a collection of original correspondence, official documents, and ephemera. Many of the papers were created by or directed to Thomas Welsh between approximately 1843 and his death in 1863. They provide glimpses into his youth, his experiences in the Mexican War, his life in Columbia between the wars, and his rise in rank to Brigadier General during the Civil War.
The collection contains correspondence with his wife and family from 1861-1863. There are also official correspondence and documents related to Welsh's military service, autobiographical pieces, correspondence following his death, obituaries, and family papers into the early twentieth century. Other items in the collection include genealogy pages from the family bible, photographic images of Thomas Welsh and family members, two scrapbooks, newspaper issues and newspaper clippings, written notes from recollections of one of Welsh's daughter, and a biographical sketch of Welsh written by his son.
Admin/Biographical History
Thomas Welsh (1824-1863) was a Lancaster County native (born and raised in Columbia), who rose from hardscrabble origins to local fame, first as a Mexican War hero, and then as a brigadier general during the Civil War. He was well known and well respected as a no nonsense officer, for his leadership and gallantry in battle, for his dedication to the service of his country, and for his concern for the welfare of his men.
Welsh lost his father at the age of 2, and went to work to support his family at age 8. He had very little formal schooling, and was largely self-educated. In 1843, at age 19, he left Lancaster County for Washington City, then went west as an itinerant carpenter/laborer to Cincinnati, Little Rock, and Fort Smith.
When the Mexican War broke out in 1846, he enlisted in a Kentucky regiment, and was severely wounded at the battle of Buena Vista (1847) from which he never fully recovered. Returning home to Columbia, he re-enlisted as a second lieutenant, assigned to the 11th U.S. infantry regiment in Mexico City. Within days of his arrival in Mexico City, he was declared unfit for service on account of his battle wound, and sent home again.
Back in Columbia as a civilian, he dabbled in politics, and received a patronage job in the Pennsylvania Main Line of Public Works (the rail and canal system connecting Philadelphia and Pittsburgh). After several years, he opened up a grocery and dry goods store in Columbia's canal basin. He also became an insurance agent. In 1857, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and his reputation grew as a community leader. By 1860, he was president of the Borough Council, a founding member of the Columbia Board of Trade, Vice President of the Columbia Cricket Club, and a canal boat operator, in addition to a dry goods merchant, insurance agent, and Justice of the Peace. He had a wife, 5 surviving children, and legal guardianship of his sister's 4 children.
When Confederate forces shelled Fort Sumter, marking the beginning of the Civil War, Thomas Welsh raised and organized the first company of volunteers from Lancaster County, and took them into the field as their Captain. Within days, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment, which served out its 90-day enlistment in the Shenandoah Valley.
Returning to Harrisburg, he was appointed Commandant of Camp Curtin, the problem-plagued processing center for new recruits. In short order, Welsh cleaned up the camp's poor sanitary conditions, improved the health of the camp, and implemented soldierly discipline and training.
In October 1861, he resigned from his camp duties, and as Colonel of the 45th Pennsylvania, led his regiment into the field. After brief service outside of Washington, they were sent to South Carolina in December, where they were posted to Otter Island. After the battle of James Island, they were recalled to Newport News, in July 1862, then sent to guard Aquia Creek.
In September, now in brigade command in Burnsides' 9th Corps, Welsh chased Lee's Confederate army west into central Maryland. His brigade broke the enemy line in Fox's Gap, on Sept. 14, then 3 days later achieved the furthest Union advance at Antietam, reaching the edge of Sharpsburg, and nearly cutting off Lee's only avenue of escape. Welsh's gallantry earned him a field promotion to brigadier general, which Congress confirmed on March 13, 1863.
The 9th Corps (Welsh now in command of the 1st Division) was sent west in the spring of 1863, then dispatched south to support Grant's investment of Vicksburg. After Vicksburg fell, they turned east and defeated Confederate General Johnston at the Battle of Jackson. Welsh contracted malaria in the southern swamps, and died in Cincinnati upon their return north. One of his men later recalled, "Had he lived, Welsh would undoubtedly have attained a much higher command. 1
1. Beauge, Eugene, in Albert, Allen D., Ed., History of the Forty-Fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865, Williamsport, PA: Grit Publ. Co, 1912, p. 79.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged in series:
Series A Thomas Welsh before the Mexican War
Series B Mexican War, 1846-1848
Series C Between the Mexican War and the Civil War, 1848-1861
Series D Civil War
Series E Post-Civil War
Series F Miscellaneous Family Papers
Series G Papers from the families of Gen. Thomas Welsh and Blanton C. Welsh
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact archives@lancasterhistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Images have been provided for research purposes only. Please contact archives@lancasterhistory.org for a high-resolution image and permission to publish.
LancasterHistory retains the rights to the digital images and content presented. The doctrine of fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder. Fair use includes comment, criticism, teaching, and private scholarship. Any images and data downloaded, printed or photocopied for these purposes should provide a citation. All other uses beyond those allowed by fair use require written permission.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. Some items are photocopies from other collections--researchers must obtain permission for reproduction and publication from the owner of the original material.
Persons wishing to publish any material from this site must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright or other use restrictions. Publication fees may apply.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pa.
Classification
MG0828
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Almost all of the papers have been passed down through successive generations of Welsh's descendants, from Thomas Welsh's wife and children to his granddaughter, Emilie Benson (Welsh) Wiggin, to her daughter Nancy Jane (Wiggin) Townsend. After Nancy Townsend's death, her son Charles Townsend passed them on to his cousin, Richard Wiggin (grandson of Emilie Benson Wiggin) in 2015.
A few papers passed out of the family's possession and found their way into other collections. Richard Abel of Columbia, PA began collecting Welsh papers and artifacts some years ago, and subsequently transferred this collection of Welsh materials to Richard Wiggin in 2012.
The Civil War Collection consists of material acquired over many years from different sources. Coverage is of Lancaster County soldiers and of daily life in the county during the Civil War. The collection contains records of various military units, family correspondence, "Home Front" papers, Civil War era diaries, the Captain John R. Bricker/Dept. of Commissary papers, celebration and reunion materials, images, newspaper clippings, and general orders.
System of Arrangement
The collection is organized by category into ten series.
The oversized documents of Series A, C, F, and H are oversized and filed flat in Box 4.
Series A Military Units: Series A contains documents of military units, including muster rolls, enlistment papers, discharge certificates, assignment and promotion records, and papers of individual soldiers and officers.
Pennsylvania Volunteers
Pennsylvania Militia
Certificate of State Regiments
U.S. Regiments
Series B Civil War Families
Benjamin Reed Family
Soldier's Letters
Series C The Lancaster Home Front
The Bounty Funds
Pension Claims
Articles
Letters
Series D Lancaster Notables
Series E Civil War Era Diaries
Series F The Captain John R. Bricker/Dept. of PA Commissary Papers
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Civil War Collection (MG0018), Series #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Restrictions are noted at the item level.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at research@lancasterhistory.org.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Other Numbers
MG-18
Classification
MG0018
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Much of the collection was cataloged prior to 1997. Added to database 23 March 2022.
Letter to Deborah T. Simmons Coates from [a sibling], 1837
Letter to Elizabeth Coates from Alice, 1862 (Elizabeth Jackson Coates, future wife of Marriott Brosius)
Civil War diary of Marriott Brosius, 1863-1865, with damage from bullet that shattered his arm (original, digital copy of images of each page and transcription)
Note from Gertrude (donor's g-g-grandmother) to her daughters Gertrude and Helen regarding the diary
Framed certificate: Commission to 2nd Lt., 97th Infantry
Pass for leave, Marriott Brosius, 1863
Digital and hardcopy of "Marriott Brosius story"
Digital and hardcopy of "Marriott Brosius military regiment history"
This collection has not been cataloged, but may be used by appointment. Please contact Research@LancasterHistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
The Holy Bible : containing the Old and New Testaments, translated out of the original tongues, with a complete concordance ... 100,000 marginal references and readings. Apocrypha and Psalms in metre. Dr. William Smith's Standard Bible dictionary ... A comprehensive and critical description of the tabernacle and its sacred furniture ; together with an account of the priesthood and the worship and sacrifices of the Israelites. Compiled expressly for this edition of the Holy Bible, chiefly from the writings of Dr. William Smith, Dean Milman, Rev. John Kitto ... [et al.] ... A history of all the religious denominations of the world, and many other important and useful aids to the study of the Holy Scriptures ... with over 2500 ... illustrations, on steel, wood, and in colors
New Testament has special t.p. :[Contrasted editions]. Both versions of the New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, translated out of the original Greek ; being the version set forth A.D. 1611. Compared with the most ancient authorities and revised A.D. 1881 and 1884. The old (King James)--version and the revised version arranged in parallel columns for convenience in reference and comparison ...
Smith-Sweigert Bible: Bible through the Apocrypha copyright 1872; New Testament copyright 1881 and 1882.
Viewing bibles contingent on staff availability, an appointment may be required.
Hess family Bible.
Smith-Sweigert Bible.
Other materials of the Hess family in MG-394.
Hess Bible: Genealogical record of Jacob W. Hess and Susan H. Lawrence1861-1919 at end of Apocrypha..
Smith-Sweigert Bible: Genealogical record of Theodore F. Sweigart and Hettie A Smith, 1856-1916 at end of Apocrypha. "Presented to Hettie A. Smith by her Grandfather, Feb. 19th, 1884".
Hess Bible: Two unidentified photographs, one male, one female, removed to MG-399 Hess family bible.
Smith-Sweigart Bible: Four pages containing 16 family photographs, some identified, at end of Bible.
Hess Bible: Morocco binding with pictorial scenes with gold tooling and depressed cover back and front; edge guilding.
Smith-Sweigart Bible: Morocco binding with pictorial scenes with gold tooling and depressed cover back and front; edge guilding.
Pennsylvania archives; second series ... vol. X-XI
Notes
Rosters and brief histories of the various regiments, orderly books of the First and Seventh regiments, and other papers. For detailed list of contents, see Annual report of the Amer. Hist. Assoc. for 1904, p. 633-635.
The rosters are reprinted, with corrections and additions, in Pennsylvania archives, 5th series, v. 2-4, Harrisburg, 1906.
"Diary of events in the army of the revolution, from Aug. 1, 1780, to Dec. 31, 1780. From the journal of Capt. Joseph McClellan, of Ninth Penn'a": v. 2, p. [571]-585.
"Diary of the revolt in the Pennsylvania line. January, 1781 [by Capt. Joseph McClellan; with other papers relating to the affair]": v. 2, p. [629]-674.
"Diary of the Pennsylvania line. May 26, 1781-April 25, 1782 [comp. from the journals of Capt. Joseph McClellan and Lieut. William Feltman]": v. 2, p. [675]-727.
