Ephraim Dod Saunders of Philadelphia

Back on February 16 and 17, I wrote about this man, who was the father of Captain Courtland Saunders who was killed at the Battle of Shepherdstown at the end of the Antietam Campaign.

From the Famous Americans.net site.

EPHRAIM DOD SAUNDERS

Clergyman born in Brookside, Morris County, New Jersey, 30 September 1808; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 13 September 1872.

He graduated from Yale  in 1831, and after studying theology in New Haven for a few months, went to Virginia where he was engaged in teaching.  He was licensed to preach there in 1833, ordained to the Presbyterian  ministry in 1834 and was instrumental in building three churches, but relinquished  preaching on account of throat problems and became  principal of an academy in Petersburg, Virginia.

After traveling to Europe, he engaged in missionary work in the Pennsylvania coal region, but in 1852, established, in West Philadelphia, the Saunders  Institute, a military school which attained a high reputation.

He discontinued the school in 1870, and in 1871, gave the buildings and grounds, which was valued at $100,000, to found, as a memorial to his son, Courtland, the Presbyterian Hospital, towards whose endowment he raised $100,000 more by his personal efforts.

He received a degree of D.D. from Lafayette.

During the Civil War,  Dr. Saunders was active in raising volunteers and obtaining money for bounties, and established a drill class in which he trained a lot of officers for the volunteer service.  His son Courtland was a teacher at the institute.

--Old Secesh

Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, a Tribute to Courtland Saunders

From Wikipedia.

PENN PRESBYTERIAN MEDICAL CENTER

Is a hospital located in the University City section of  West Philadelphia.  It was founded by Reverend Ephraim D. Saunders in 1871 and formally joined the Pennsylvania  Health System in  1995.

Presbyterian was founded  in 1871 by the  Alliance of Philadelphia Prebyteries as a 48-bed facility on 2.5 acres.  The Reverend Dr. Ephraim D. Saunders, a Presbyterian minister, dedicated the land  in memory of his son, Courtland, who was shot and killed as a captain in the 118th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Shepherdstown on September 20, 1862.

He also gave a $400,000 endowment to it.

Reverend Saunders said the dedication, "A few days before the Battle of Antietam ... he[Courtland] passed with me  from his tent in the forest....  In view of the perils of war ... he recommended that in the case of his death ... the property should all be donated to some prominent ... charity."

So, the father donated the land and $400,000 to the memory of his son.

The incorporators of the Presbyterian Hospital declared its purpose was "to provide medical and surgical aid and nursing for the sick and disabled..."  Care and nursing was granted to the indigent of Philadelphia, funded by donations from individuals and Presbyterian churches.

It is now a 300-bed institution on 16.5 acres of land.

So, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center Owes Its Start to Capt. Courtland Saunders and His Father.  --Old Secesh

Captain Courtland Saunders, 118th Pa., Killed at Shepherdstown-- Part 2

Union Army officer.  Served as captain of Company G of the 118th Pennsylvania Infantry (The Corn Exchange Regiment).  He led his company at the September 20, 1862, Battle of Shepherdstown, a small but bloody engagement that marked the end of the Antietam Campaign

In the battle, his unit was sent to the Potomac River to engage retreating Confederates whose rear guard took up defensive positions to guard fords across the river near Shepherdstown, Virginia (it was not yet in the state of West Virginia).

Facing a determined enemy who outnumbered them and had advantages in terrain, the Union troops across the river were ordered to fall back.  The 118th's commander, Colonel Charles Provost, objected to the way his retreat orders were received and refused to fall back and ordered an attack.

He was then struck down by a bullet and the 118th was forced back to the river and across it in confusion with many casualties. Of 737 men in the regiment at the beginning, their first combat after having been formed just a month prior, 60 men and three officers were killed.

One of those killed was Captain Courtland Saunders.

--Old Secesh

Captain Courtland Saunders, 118th Pennsylvania, Also Killed at Shepherdstown

From Find-A-Grave.

CAPTAIN COURTLAND SAUNDERS

BIRTH:  1840

DEATH:  20 September 1862 (aged 21-22)  Battle of Shepherdstown

BURIAL: Woodlands Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

--Old Secesh

A Letter About the Loss of 118th Regiment Officers at the Battle of Shepherdstown

From SparedShared13.Wordpress. "1862-1863:  Edward Everette Coxe to family.

Camp Addicks

Near Tennallytown

October 3, 1862

Dear Bob,

The loss of Capt. [Joseph W.] Ricketts is a severe one both to his family and his friends --  particularly to his company of which he was a faithful member.  Lt. McKeen is a gentleman & I hope his wounds will soon heal & enable [him] to be fit for duty.  I was scarcely acquainted with [Lt.] J. Mora  Moss or J. Rudhall White.

"Capt. Ricketts I consider never acted in a straight forward, honest manner to me or else I would have been in his company when the regiment was formed, or I would have gone with him.  Had I gone, maybe today I would have been among the killed or wounded and perhaps  it was well I did not go at that time or with the regiment.

"I consider the order sending them into the fight so little prepared as they were as one of the most fatal blunders of the war & hope  the same thing will never happen to us."

--Old Secesh

Recruitment Poster for Co. K, 118th Pennsylvania Infantry-- Part 2: Monetary Incentives

Then followed a long lost of monetary incentives.

****************************

$2, Government Premium when Recruit is Mustered in.

$10, Corn Exchange Bounty, when sent to Camp.

$25, City Bounty, when the Company is full.

$25, City Bounty, when the Regiment is formed.

$13, One Month's Pay  in advance.  And

$25,  One-fourth of Government Bounty.

Total, $100  before leaving the City.

$75,  Remainder of Government Bounty, when Mustered Out of service.

*****************************

Pretty good work and pay if you can get it.

"Jine" the 118th, Co. K.  Make Some Bucks!!  --Old Secesh

Recruitment Poster of Co. K, 118th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment-- Part 1

From the September 15, 2021 Laurel Hill Cemetery Blog "A Philadelphia Regiment's September baptism of fire" by Russell Dodge.

They have a copy of a poster calling for men to sign up for Company K of the regiment:

*****************************

"$162 BOUNTY

STEADY, ABLE-BODIED MEN WANTED

FOR CO. K., 

CORN EXCHANGE REGIMENT,

At 241  Race Street.

First Lieut.  W.M. McKeen

Second Lieut.  J. Mora Moss

Captain JOS. W. RICKETTS"

*****************************

These officers were all killed or wounded at the Battle of Shepherdstown.

Then it went into the financial benefits of joining which I will cover in my next post.

--Old Secesh

Officers of Co. K, 118th Pennsylvania Infantry at Battle of Shepherdstown

From Steve's Civil War PHP page.

RICKETTS, JOSEPH W.--  Captain --  Killed at Shepherdstown, W. Va. on September 20, 1862.

CROCKER, LEMUEL L.--  Captain--  Promoted from 1st Lt. of Company C on September 20, 1862.  Resigned on February 26, 1864.  (I wrote about his brave river crossings to save his comrades last month.)

M'KEAN, WILLIAM N.--  1st Lieutenant--    Wounded at Shepherdstown, W. Va. on September 20, 1862.  Discharged on March 25, 1863.  (Also spelled McKeen which is most likely the correct spelling.)

MOSS JR., J. MORA--  2nd Lieutenant--  Killed at Shepherdstown, W. Va.  September 20, 1862.

WILSON, JAMES B.--  2nd Lieutenant--  Promoted from 1st sergeant Co. A on October 22, 1862 to 1st Lieutenant  Co. B on January 12, 1863.

So, Co. K had its captain and 2nd lieutenant killed and 1st lieutenant seriously wounded at the Battle of Shepherdstown.

--Old Secesh

Capt. Joseph Wattson Ricketts

From Find a Grave.

BORN:  16 January 1836   Baltimore, Maryland

DEATH:  20 September 1862  Shepherdstown, West Virginia

BURIED:  Woodlands Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Civil War Union Army officer.  He served during the Civil War as commander of Company K, 118th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, being mustered in on August 21, 1862.

A month later he was killed at the Battle of Sherpherdstown Ford, (West) Virginia.

--Old Secesh

Joseph Ricketts and 1st Lt. William M. McKeen

"Joseph Ricketts was a strong man.    His energies were untiring, his sense of duty supreme.  He had had a military training; he was skillful as a tactician.  What he knew, he knew thoroughly.  He had fully  grasped the principles of his teachings and was apt and ready in their application.

"His generous sympathy was evidenced  by his readiness to relieve the suffering of horses, and his heroic death attested  his eminent courage.  Fitted for an advancement which the casualties of war would soon have brought him, he was destined thus early in his career for the most honorable of all soldier's epitaphs:

"killed in action."

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"First Lieutenant William M. McKeen was about this time  in the action also most seriously wounded.  A shot passed through his body involving a vital organ.  His life was for a long time despaired of.

"He recovered subsequently, however, to again take a prominent place in the business community."

--Old Secesh

Death of Lt. J. Rudhall White-- Part 2: An Eulogy

From "History of the 118th  Pennsylvania Volunteers: The Corn Exchange Regiment."

"White was a handsome, soldiery young man of scarce twenty summers.    A native of Warrenton, Virginia, at the breaking  out of the war, he was a young lieutenant in the Black Horse Cavalry, a command subsequently famous in all the campaigns  of Virginia.

"Differing in sentiments among his friends and his family, sacrificing the ties of home and  friendship, he was determined to defend his convictions with his sword.  Firm in his belief that the unrighteous attempt to disrupt the Government should be suppressed, imbued with the purest and highest patriotism, he sought service in the Union  army.  (Even though a native of Virginia and with all his family and friends siding with the Confederacy, he determined to go with his country.)

"Instinctively a soldier by principle, his sad and early death interrupted a career that promised the brightest prospects.  His short service had secured him the confidence of his superiors and respect of the soldiers."

A Loss.  --Old Secesh

Virginia's Black Horse Cavalry

From the Encyclopedia Virginia.

In the last post, I mentioned that Lt. J. Rudhall White who was killed at the Battle of Shepherdstown as a member of the 118th Pennsylvania Infantry was a native of Warrenton, Virginia, and had been a member of the famed Black Horse Cavalry before he threw in his lot with the Union. 

The Black Horse Cavalry was conceived by a gathering of Warrenton lawyers in 1858 and was among the local militia groups called to active duty by Governor Henry Wise in 1859.

The Black Horse Cavalry led a successful charge against Union forces at the First Battle of Bull Run, winning the special praise of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.  Known as Company H of the 4th Virginia Cavalry, the unit served as  bodyguard, escort  and scout for generals Joseph E, Johnston and  Stonewall Jackson.

Following the war, a number of men from the group became prominent  leaders in the state.

--Old Secesh

Death of Lt. J. Rudhall White at the Battle of Shepherdstown: 'Thank God I Am Over At Last'

From the October 8, 2008, AotW "On the  trail of the Corn Exchange Regiment."  These guys went to the battle site, and retraced the steps of the hapless 118th, even crossing the Potomac River on foot.  Now, there's some dedication.  Well worth going to it and reading.  Lots of pictures.  Too bad John Burns was not with them.  This would be right up his line/

One of the saddest incidents on this disastrous day happened  after the action was really over.  Lieutenant J. Rudhall White had passed through the desperate dangers of the contest and had safely landed  upon the Maryland shore.

As he reached the top of the river-bank he stopped and said, "Thank God I am over at last."

His halt attracted attention and a musket ball, doubtlessly aimed  from the other side by a skilled marksman, plowed through his bowels.  The wound was almost instantly fatal; he died as he was being borne away.

White was a handsome, soldierly young man of scarce twenty summers.  A native of Warrenton, Virginia, at the breaking out of the war, he was a young lieutenant in the Black Horse Cavalry, a command subsequently  famous in all of the campaigns in Virginia.

Differing in sentiments from his friends and his family, sacrificing  the ties of home and friendship, he determined to defend his convictions with his sword...."

So Here Was a Man Who Was from Virginia But Fighting for the Union.  --Old Secesh

Second Day at Shepherdstown-- Part 6: Heavy Losses for the 118th

The 118th's dilemma.  Crossing the Potomac under the combined enemy and friendly fire seemed less dangerous than staying and most of the Pennsylvanians decided to risk it.  Some waded right into the water, while others threaded their way across the mill dam, which in places were knee-deep.  

Musket balls tore splinters from the slippery planks as Colonel Provost was carried across. Many men were shot down before they got to safety.

Lieutenant  J. Rudhall White only ha time to give thanks to God for reaching the other side safely when a musket ball fatally  struck him.

This is when Lt. Lemuel Crocker got involved with his rescue mission.

The 118th Pennsylvania entered the fight with 737 men.  When the fighting died down around 2 pm, three officers and sixty men had been killed, 101 were wounded and 105 were missing.  Their 269 casualties constituted the bulk  of the 361 Union men lost at the battle.  

A.P. Hill was satisfied that the Yankees had been driven back across the Potomac and made no attempt to follow them.  Confederate losses numbered 30 dead and 261 wounded.

--Old Secesh

The Second Day at Shepherdstown-- Part 5: Defective Rifles and Friendly Fire for the 118th

I almost forgot to mention another pressing problem facing the 118th Pennsylvania.  Not only were the rookies coming up against seasoned veterans, but also there were a whole lot more of them.  In addition, a problem with their weapons developed.  Half the Enfields issued to the regiment probed to be defective.  Their mainsprings caused the hammers to strike too weakly to pop the percussion caps.

Some men, dazed by their first elephant, were not even aware that their rifles weren't firing.   They kept ramming cartridge after cartridge into the barrel.   As some gave up their useless weapons and tossed them away, others pounded on the hammers with rocks to force them to fire.  Officers searched desperately for rifles dropped by the dead or wounded, hoping to find some that would work.

So, the 118th was in a real desperate situation.

Some of them fell over the bluffs and were hurt.  Others took cover in the old limekilns near the cement factory.  There, they not only had to dodge fire from the Rebels, but also the Union guns from across the river.  The gunners there were cutting the fuses too short and their shells were exploding among friendly soldiers.

Lt. Donaldson believed he saw one Union shell killing 12 or 15 of his own soldiers.  He also said he'd seen several of his men  rush with a white flag to Rebel lines to surrender.

Friendly Fire--  Old Secesh

The Second Day of Shepherdstown-- Part 4: The 118thPennsylvania Sees the Elephant in the Worst Kind of Way

The 20th Maine got off fairly easily in what could have been a debacle.  However, the 118th Pennsylvania wasn't so fortunate.  (This is where Lt. Lemuel Crocker comes in).  They were positioned across a ravine from the other Union troops when couriers brought orders to withdraw across the Potomac River.

The messenger sent to the 118th delivered the message to a line officer, who relayed them to the colonel.  Men from other regiments yelled across the ravine to tell them to withdraw.    When word reached Col.  Charles Mallet  Prevost, he refused to accept them, saying: "I do not receive orders in that way.  If Colonel Barnes has any messages to give me, let his aide come to me."

Colonel Prevost grabbed the  regimental standard and started waving it to urge his men to move forward.  Just then, a musket ball slammed into his shoulder and ended the brief rally.  Command passed to Lt. Col. James Gwyn.  An aide brought  new orders to retreat and this time they were promptly followed.

The intensity of Confederate General A.P. Hill's attack and inexperience of the 118th began to tell.  They fell back to the edge of the bluff and began to break up in panic and confusion.  Men rushed and tumbled down the steep  hillside and streamed into the river.  Hill's men reached the top of the bluff and began pouring fire into the 118th.

One Tar Heel soldier wrote that he watched "them take to the water like ducks."

And, it is not yet over for the 118th.

--Old Secesh

Second Day of Battle of Sherpherdstown-- Part 2: The Battle Opens

The 118th Pennsylvania Regiment splashed into the Potomac River with orders to march to Shepherdstown.  The water was cold, but they were in high spirits and had a lot of fun when a comrade would slip or stumble into the river.  They did not know about the approaching Rebels and figured that the enemy had just skedaddled and it was going to be an easy day.

Little did they know what was in store for them.

The 118th waded ashore and paused long enough to replace their socks and shoes before being ordered to take up a position at the top of the bluffs.

For Captain  Francis A. Donaldson of the 118th's Company H, this felt a whole lot like deja vu.  The lay of the land and situation reminded him of what he'd been at on October  21, 1861, when he was a member of the 71st Pennsylvania at the Battle of Ball's Bluff.

He didn't know it, but he had good reason to worry.

Confederate General A.P. Hill's Light Division was arriving on the scene.  And, there were a lot of them.

Pendleton's artillery had been moved so far away that they were unable to support Hill's men and the Union artillery across the river really poured it into the advancing Rebels.  Hill wrote it was, "the most  tremendous fire of artillery I ever saw.... It was as if each man felt the fate of the army was centered on

himself."

--Old Secesh

Second Day: Battle of Shepherdstown-- Part 1: Back Across the River with the 118th Pennsylvania

Now, we come up to where the 118th Pennsylvania and Lt. Lemuel Crocker enter the battle.

As the sun rose on the morning of September 20 over their camps on the Maryland side of the Potomac River, Union soldiers finished their coffee and fell into ranks to again cross the river.  Once over, they headed to Shepherdstown along a narrow road,

They passed a tall bluff and an abandoned brock building that had once housed a cement mill.  A dam across the river at this spot diverted water to help power the mill.  (This is where the 118th Pennsylvania really Saw the Elephant.   As they advanced, they became aware of the approach of many enemy soldiers (A.P. Hill's division)

Other units were crossing the river as well, including Colonel James Barnes' brigade of Major General  George W. Morrell's division.  This included  a green regiment, the 118th Pennsylvania that had left Philadelphia for war just three weeks earlier after just barely a month of training.

The Philadelphia Corn Exchange, a financial market that speculated in agricultural futures, paid for their equipment and a $10 bonus for each man and the unit  had been nicknamed the Corn Exchange Regiment.

At the Battle of Antietam they had been kept in reserve and had not yet "seen the elephant."

Hey, That's What I Say.  --Old Secesh

Looking for Lt. Crocker-- Part 4: '...It Seemed Certain Death to Cross It'

Two days after the battle, Crocker, whose only punishment for disobeying orders was a reprimand, described his harrowing battle experience in a letter to his parents:  "As we got to the riverside we had to go near a half mile to a dam over which our men were attempting to cross, and to make this dam many a man lost his life, as the rebels were stationed on the bluff taking deliberate aim during the whole fight."

"I was cool and collected during my travel by the riverside," he continued, "but when I reach this dam, I think my cheek blanched, for it seemed certain death to cross it, as the rebels had got into a large brick building below the dam, and the main body above on the bluff, picking off our poor fellows."

Ravaged by time, nature and graffiti, that brick building used by the Confederates still stands.

After Lemuel Crocker's death in Buffalo in 1885, apparently from a stroke, no mention appeared in the local newspaper of his long-ago heroism.  It said that he was a respected businessman "noted for for his liberality, public spirit and kindheartedness.  he had many warm friends by whom his sudden taking off will be greatly deplored.

He was buried at Buffalo's famous Forest Lawn Cemetery.

He did not receive a Medal of Honor for his Shepherdstown efforts.  Hopefully at some time soon that will be rectified.  He definitely deserves one (along with William Barker Cushing in my book).

--Old Secesh

John Banks Looking for Lt. Crocker-- Part 3: 'Shell and Be Damned'

So, here you have an inexperienced group of soldiers pinned down by fire from Confederates above them and starting to get shelled by their own artillery from across the river.  Friendly and unfriendly fire.  Captain Frank Donaldson of the 118th Pennsylvania wrote later:  "A cry of horror went up from our men, heard across the river."

Lt. Lemuel Crocker had been one of the fortunate members of the 118th and made it across the river to safety in Maryland.  It was too much for his honor to do nothing so decided to start crossing that river and rescue wounded comrades and retrieved the dead as well.

Although in the army for less than a month, the lieutenant "absolutely covered with blood and dirt" was carrying a soldier to the riverbank when he was approached by an aide for 5th Corps commander Fitz John Porter.  He yelled at Crocker to stop or battery will open fire to persuade you.

"Shell and be damned," replied Crocker, who went on and continued his work on the Virginia side of the river.

On one trip across the river, he was confronted by a Confederate general and his staff, Crocker -- a large, muscular man with a hick beard -- told them "humanity and decency demanded" that Union dead and wounded be cared for properly.

The Confederates allowed him to continue his efforts, or, as Banks wrote:  "And so this Civil War bad ass proceeded with his rescue and recovery mission.

Taking No Guff from Anybody.  --Old Secesh