13th Pennsylvania Reserves, “Bucktails”: Forever Proud
Deer season has come and gone in most states, I think. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania. Here, the white tail deer roam through the meadows, forests . . . and backyards. Even though I no longer live in the north, when I see hunters don their gear, I think of the Pennsylvania soldiers who wore bucktails on their kepis and other head gear. There were three regiments that did so. Here’s a look at the first “Bucktail” regiment, 13th Pennsylvania Reserves, and two of their toughest battles.
The call to arms went out to “marksmen” from several rural counties in April 1861.[1] The woodsmen arrived at the recruiter’s office wearing buck tails on their hats. It was a great way to show their shooting expertise. The volunteers proudly wore their earned prizes on the front or side of their kepis. These were the first Bucktails.
Colonel Thomas L. Kane, a lawyer, organized and led the marksmen. The Bucktails saw action by the end of 1861. Colonel Kane was injured in the mouth at the battle of Dranesville, Virginia, on December 20, but stayed in the field. He was then wounded in the leg and captured at the battle of Harrisonburg, Virginia, June 6-7. 1862.[2]
Major Roy Stone took over the regiment and led the men through the Peninsula Campaign, June 25 to July 1, 1862. The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves were part of the 1st Brigade of Brig. Gen. George McCall’s division, Army of the Potomac.[3] The Bucktail’s first large scale battle took place at the battle of Mechanicsville on June 26, 1862. With their sister Pennsylvania regiments, the division had roughly 7,000 men.
The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves deployed in a defensive position near Meadow Bridge across Beaver Dam Creek and waited tensely. Around 3:30 pm, June 26, 1862, Maj. Gen. A. P. Hill’s Confederate division smashed into the Union line. Hill counted 14,000 men in his division. The Louisiana and Georgia regiments led the attack.
One eyewitness recalled the fighting. “[S]o rapidly and so accurately did they [the Bucktails] ply their guns that the charging column halted, reeled back and sought shelter in the swamp.”[4] The Confederates brought up more regiments. The Pennsylvanians poured the lead on and again repulsed the onslaught.
General Robert E. Lee got so frustrated that he ordered his divisions to concentrate their attack in another sector. The Pennsylvanians had a reprieve, but remained alert as the battle raged over on the Union left flank. The fighting lasted until nightfall, 9:00 p.m. Outnumbered and running out of ammunition, the entire line withdrew. The Bucktails took up the rear guard for McCall’s division.[5]
The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves paid a heavy price during the Peninsula Campaign. The regiment participated in the battles of Mechanicsville, Gaines Mill and White Oak Swamp (Frayser’s Farm). Casualties amounted to 247 killed, wounded, or missing. Division commander Brig. Gen. McCall was wounded and captured near Frayser’s Farm. Their new division commander wrote a report on the men’s exemplary performance. “Men never behaved better; to their constancy and courage, after all, the good stand made against a greatly superior force is due, and Pennsylvania may forever be proud of the memories connected with deeds of her sons at Mechanicsville.”[6]
The next summer the deeds of the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves were immortalized on the fields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 1-3, 1863. The regiment and its division under Maj. Gen. Samuel Crawford waited anxiously behind Little Round Top on Thursday, July 2.[7] Around 6:30 pm, the call to arms resounded through the ranks.[8] “The moment was a critical one.”[9]
Crawford seized the 13th’s flag and shouted, “Forward Reserves!” The division poured two volleys into the onrushing Georgians and South Carolinians, and, with a cheer, the line charged forward at a run. The exhausted Confederates reeled and withdrew. Some made a brief stand at a stonewall but most had had enough. The Pennsylvanians had helped save Little Round Top.[10]
The fighting, however, wasn’t over. Texas, Alabama, and Arkansas boys remained tucked into the Devil’s Den area to the left of the Pennsylvania reserves. The Confederates laid down a nasty enfilading fire. Two companies were sent out to reconnoitrer from the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves on the morning of Friday, July 3.
The vicinity of Devil’s Den was admirably suited to the tactics employed by the Bucktails, as cover both of rocks and trees abounded. Possessing Sharps rifles, they were able to reload, when necessary, without exposing any portions of their bodies, an advantage not possessed by their opponents. Utilizing this advantage to the utmost, they poured in a hot fire. The fire in return immediately became severe, and as they crept nearer, of an intensity that plainly showed that the enemy was far too strong numerically to be routed by the small force sent against them. The Bucktails, therefore, stayed behind cover, devoting themselves to picking off their antagonists whenever chances At this game they entirely outclassed the Confederates.[11]
So, with a rebel yell, the Rebs leapt from their cover and drove the Pennsylvanians back to the stonewall. The Confederates were finally dislodged from Devils Den later that evening on July 3.
The battle was over.[12] The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves counted their casualties. Out of 349 men, 2 officers and 9 suffered mortal wounds, and their colonel was among the dead. In addition, there were 8 officers and 27 men wounded, and 2 men captured or missing.[13]
There would be no respite for the veteran Bucktails. For the next year, the regiment participated in all the major campaigns: Overland Campaign, battle of Wilderness, battle of Spotsylvania Court House, and skirmished at the battle of North Anna River. The regiment’s last battle was Totopotomoy Creek (Bethesda Church), May 30-31, 1864.[14]
Governor Curtin welcomed the Bucktails home at the capital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
May you all find a happy welcome to your homes! May
you ever be marked as brave men who served their country
faithfully in times of great peril. May you never regret that
you belonged to the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, fighting on
every battle-field of the Republic.[15]
.
[1] Companies mustered in: Company A – “The Anderson Guards” – Tioga County; Company B – “The Morgan Rifles” – Perry County – Captain Langhorne Wister; Company C – “The Cameron Rifles” – Cameron County; Company D – “The Raftsman’s Guards” – Warren County; Company E – “The Tioga Rifles” – Tioga County; Company F – “The Irish Infantry” – Carbon County; Company G – “The Elk Rifles” – Elk County – Captain Hugh McDonald (no relation); Company H – “Wayne Independent Rifles” – Chester County; Company I – “The McKean Rifles” – McKean County; and, Company K – “The Raftsman’s Rangers” – Clearfield County. See, https://civilwarintheeast.com/us-regiments-batteries/pennsylvania/13th-pennsylvania-reserves. This first group mustered in April 17, 1861 and had three different designations. The regiment was initially referred to as the 1st Rifles; then called the 42nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, and finally it was named the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves. These were the original Bucktails.
[2] https://civilwarintheeast.com/us-regiments-batteries/pennsylvania/13th-pennsylvania-reserves.
[3] https://dn790007.ca.archive.org/0/items/cu31924026471023/cu31924026471023.pdf.
[4] O.R. Howard Thomson, History of the “Bucktails,” Kane Rifle Regiment of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps (13th Pennsylvania Reserves, 42nd of the line, 107. There are some cool maps at https://www.nps.gov/maps/rich/footsteps-of-history/index.html. You can see the progress of the battle hour-by-hour, but you can’t see which unit went where.
[5] Official Records, vol. 11, 399. During the retreat at night, Company K, 13th Pennsylvania Reserves got cut off. Company K’s men spent about a week in the Virginia swamps, making their way back to the Army of the Potomac lines. Their outdoor tracking experience must’ve played an integral part in helping them find their way back to the regiment.
[6] OR, vol. 11, 400. The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves participated in every campaign from December 1861-June 1864 until the regiment was mustered out. https://civilwarintheeast.com/us-regiments-batteries/pennsylvania/13th-pennsylvania-reserves. August 28-30, 1862, 2nd Manassas. September 17, 1862, Battle of Antietam, the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves fought near the famed Dunkard Church. Two months later, the regiment battled on the Union left flank at Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862. The veteran bucktails also participated in Chancellorsville, May 4-6, 1863. Overland Campaign of 1864.
[7] The regiment now belonged to the V Corps (Commander Maj. Gen. Sykes), Third Division, 1st Brigade
[8] Two other divisions had gone failed to stem the Confederate tide, Brig. Gen. Caldwell’s’ division, II Corps, and Brig. Gen. Romeyn Ayres division, V Corps.
[9] Thomson, 266.
[10] Ibid., 266-67.
[11] Ibid., 271-72.
[12] The Gettysburg Campaign overall was in full swing with the pursuit of Lee’s army to the Potomac.
[13] https://civilwarintheeast.com/us-regiments-batteries/pennsylvania/13th-pennsylvania-reserves/
[14] Ibid.
[15] Thomson, 331.
Captain Edward Anderson Irvin, Company K, 13th Pennsylvania Reserves, captured at Mechanicsville – his cousin married my great-great-grandfather (105th Pennsylvania Infantry, badly wounded at Fair Oaks), and thus became my great-great-grandmother.