62d Pennsylvania Volunteers

Company F was the first company recruited by Colonel Sam Black. On the Fourth of July, 1861, 40 or 50 Home Guard companies had rallied in the parks of Allegheny city for a patriotic demonstration. Shortly after the gathering had broken up and the companies were returning home, Colonel Black was handed a telegram from the Secretary of War authorizing him to form a regiment. With the dispatch in his pocket, he rode out and overtook the Eighth Ward Home Guards on Penn Avenue. The Eighth Ward Home Guards, commanded by Captain Edward S. Wright, halted and divided its ranks to present arms to Black as he passed through. Black halted and announced the message of his telegraph, and invited the Eighth Ward Home Guards to be the first volunteers in the new regiment. Captain Wright ordered the company to break ranks to consider the invitation, and within five minutes the company agreed unanimously to join Black as a unit. The number of volunteers from the Eighth Ward Home Guards was so great, however, that two companies had to be formed from Eighth Ward Home Guards volunteers. Company F retained Captain Wright as its commander. Company K was the second Eighth Ward Guards. It included volunteers from elsewhere in Alleghany Country to complete it.

Although it is not included in Dyer's list of engagements for the 62d, the Battle of Dranesville, a minor exchange outside of Washington, may have involved Company F. Dranesville, although of no tactical importance, was proudly proclaimed "the Federal victory south of the Potomac." This note in the Pittsburgh Gazette from 9 January 1862, after mentioning Capt. Edward Wright of the 8th Ward, goes on to say: "I am glad to observe that Gen. Cameron has issued a special letter of thanks to the brave boys who won the vicory of Drainseville [sic]. Our country may well feel proud of the glorious 8th, and our State of all her sons who faced death 'in the imminent deadly breach' unblanched".

Commissioned and Non-Commissioned Officers

Go to Privates and Musicians

Edward Smith Wright | Captain
Served in the field until the end of the Peninsular campaign, when, on account of malarial fever, he was hospitalized in Washington. Although serving detached duty, he was officially mustered out with company, 13 July 1864.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 32; Occupation: Clerk; Residence: Allegheny Co.; Hair: Light; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Fair; Height: 5'10" Remarks: Discharge Exp. of Term.

Upon partial recovery he was assigned to detached duty, still maintaining his rank and commission. He spent the rest of the war years in Pittsburgh first as "military provost marshall for Pittsburg and the territories west of the mountains," then provost marshall for the Department of the Monongahela, in which capacity he oversaw the care and handling of prisoners of war.

Born in Dudley, England, on 5 December 1829. Member of the Wright family of Dudley, anvil and vice makers. Migrated to Pittsburgh in the 1830 or 1840s, originally working for an uncle in a blacksmith tool shop. Became a clerk for the Pittsburg Gazette, working his way up to chief clerk, before being elected Pittsburgh water assessor in 1855 and maintained that position until the war broke out. Before the war broke out he organzied the Eighth Ward Home Guards, which in the Allegheny Home Guard organization was part of the First Regiment Rifles of the First Brigade. With that company, Wright joined the 62d Pennsylvania as its first volunteers. After the war, he was involved in several private endeavors in the oil business and as President of the Pittsburgh Glass Manufactoring Company, before he returned to public service, first returning as water assessor, and in 1869 being elected warden of the Western Penitentiary of Pennsylvania. He served for 33 years. He helped organize the National Prison Association and once served as its president. He married twice, including Sarah Flanegin, daughter of F. C. Flanegin, who was the first elected district attorney of Allegheny County. He had eight children, included David Leland Wright, a noted architect. As warden, Wright was described as having a venerable white beard. He died in 1916.

He filed for an invalid pension on 2 September 1903. His wife, Annie W. Wright, filed for a widow's pension on 2 October 1916.

Listed among the sick and wounded soldiers in the Camden Street Hospital, Baltimore, recorded on 2 August 1862, in the Pittsburgh Gazette.

Personal information from A century and a half of Pittsburg and her people by John Newton Boucher (Lewis Publishing, 1908).

John R. T. Noble | 1st Lieutenant
Discharged by special order, 19 December 1863.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 32; Occupation: Pilot; Residence: Allegheny Co.; Hair: Dark; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Fair; Height: 5'10"

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 26; Occupation: Axe Maker; Residence: Allegheny Co.; Hair: Light; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Dark; Height: 5'11"

If the Pittsburgh Press article about Bernard Coll (see below) is correct that Sergeant Coll commanded Company F after all the commissioned officers were dead, wounded, or absent, Wilson must have been absent from the company toward the end of the war. I have seen nothing to confirm that claim nor any indication that Wilson was wounded, reassigned within the regiment, or serving in detached duty.

Wilson filed for an invalid pension on 6 August 1879 from Pennsylvania.

William J. Patterson | 2nd Lieutenant; breveted to Captain after war
Wounded and captured at Gaines Mill. General Order No. 118 of the War Department Adjutant General's Office, signed 27 August 1862, lists officers of the United States service who have been exchanged as prisoners of war for prisoners taken in arms against the United States, including three Lieutenants, including 2d Lieutenant N.J. [sic] Patterson, for Colonel J.C. Brown, 3d Tennessee. Discharged 8 October 1863 for wounds received in action.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 22; Occupation: Clerk; Residence: Allegheny Co.; Hair: Light; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Fair; Height: 5'9"

Patterson was quite active in the GAR. According to the Pennsylvania GAR Journal of the Annual Encampment, Volume 33, from which the portrait was found, Patterson served as the State of Pennsylvania's Department Commander in 1898-99. As a Previous Department Commander, he continued in a leadership role of the Pennsylvania GAR for the two decades. In 1889 Patterson gave the address for the regiment at the dedication of the monument to the 62d. In May 1913, Patterson was named to an eight-member commission to plan the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.

According to the Pittsburgh Press, 9 September 1894, in a special issue dedicated to an encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, W. J. Patterson co-headed the Committee of Reunions. The portrait to the left was included, but no biographical sketch was provided.

Listed in Who's Who in Pennsylvania: Containing Authentic Biographies of Pennsylvanians who are Leaders and Representatives in Various Departments of Worthy Human Achievement, edited by Lewis Randolph Hamersly (1904): "Member of the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Miliary Order of the Loyal Legion.... Was elected Oct. 16, 1889."

According to American Civil War Soldiers [database on-line], available through Ancestry.com, Patterson was born 7 February 1838, died on 6 November 1926, in Bellevue, Pittsburgh. The 1860 Census for Pittsburgh's 8th Ward indicates William J. Patterson was then a 21 year old clerk who had been born in Ireland, living with his mother Frances and three brothers.

George Cochran | Private, 1st Sergeant
Mustered out with company, 13 July 1864.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 30; Occupation: Patternmaker; Residence: Allegheny Co.; Hair: Dark; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Dark; Height: 6'

George, Augustus, and Henry Cochran were brothers, sons of George and Mary Cochran, according to the 1850 Census for Pittsburgh, 6th Ward.

Augustus Cochran | Private, Sergeant
Mustered out with company, 13 July 1864.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 25; Occupation: Riverman; Residence: Allegheny Co.; Hair: Light; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Fair; Height: 5'8"

George, Augustus, and Henry Cochran were brothers, sons of George and Mary Cochran, according to the 1850 Census for Pittsburgh, 6th Ward.

Died 13 January 1904. Buried in Homewood Cemetery.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 22; Occupation: Brass finisher; Residence: Pittsburgh; Hair: Black; Eyes: Brown; Complexion: Fair; Height: 5'4 5/8"

According to the Pittsburgh Press, 9 September 1894, in a special issue dedicated to an encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, Bernard J. Coll co-headed the Committee of Reunions. The portrait to the left was included, along with a biographical sketch. Coll was described as being born in Ireland in December 1842. He came with his parents and settled in Pittsburg in 1849. He was wounded and captured at Gaines Mill, kept at Castle Thunder for nine weeks before being paroled among the badly wounded. After hospital stays, first at Fortress Monroe and then at the Navy Yard in Annapolis, he returned to his company just before the Battle of Fredricksburg. Late in the war, sometime after Grant took command in the east, Coll, with the rank of Sergeant only, commanded Company F, since the commissioned officers were all dead, wounded or absent.

Again, acccording to the Pittsburgh Press article, after the war, Coll married B. M. Burns and had eight children. He returned to brass finishing as an occupation, and in 1872 opened a shop in partnership with his brother, retiring in 1879. He then worked for the Pennsylvania Company and other firms in "clerical positions of trust."

An excerpt of a letter by B. J. Coll, about the Battle of Gaines Mills, reprinted in The Fifth Army Corps (Army of the Potomac): A Record of Operations During the Civil War by William Henry Powell (1896) and in the Washington Post, 6 October 1902:

"It was on Saturday, June 28, the Confederates advanced. Lieut. Patterson and I were lying together, wounded, with probably 300 other wounded men of our corps lying around who had been carried there, and on account of wounds could not get away. When they advanced to where we lay, we were subjects of considerable curiosity to them. At a short distance from us we saw a group of officers. Lieut. Patterson inquired from the Confederates standing around who they were. They told us they were Lee, Longstreet, A. P. and D.H. Hill, ande General Jackson. Jackson came up and asked the lieutenant "Whose troops were engaged today?" He replied "General FitzJohn Porter's corps." He then asked if that was all of the troops engaged. The lieutenant answered "Yes." The general then said if he would repeat that lie he would cut his ears off with his sword. The lieutenant answered that "Notwithstanding the fact that I may lose my ears, I repeat that the onl troops engaged yesterday were those of General Porter's corps. Slocum's division came over late in the evening, but did not become engaged." I think he must have felt humiliated to think that General Porter's corps kept nearly the entire Confederate army at bay during the entire day of the 27th, and then retired across the Chickahominy during the night."

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 28; Occupation: Riverman; Residence: Allegheny City.; Hair: Dark; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Fair; Height: 5'7 1/2"

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: [ No personal information provided.]

Filed for a invalid pension 26 January 1863.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 30; Occupation: Pilot; Residence: Pittsburgh; Hair: Dark; Eyes: Hazel; Complexion: Fair; Height: 5'5 1/2"

According to Our Firemen : the History of the Pittsburgh Fire Department, edited by Charles T. Dawson (Pittsburgh: 1889), at end of the Seven Day's Fight, only 17 soldiers our of 84 were left in Company F, and Wrigley, as Sergeant was in command as highest officer in rank.

The same source indicates that Wrigley became a member of the Pittsburgh police force in 1860. After the war, he returned to Pittsburgh and the police force until he joined the Pittsburgh Paid Fire Department at its inauguration as foreman of Company No. 4. He later commanded No. 5, until he stepped down to become a hoseman. He was known for his skill and daring as a fire fighter and never received serious injury.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 33; Occupation: Sheet Iron Worker; Residence: Pittsburgh; Hair: Brown; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Fair; Height: 5'6"

Veteran's Card for the 3d Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery indicates Wright was born in England.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 19; Occupation: Glass cutter; Residence: Pittsburgh; Hair: Dark; Eyes: Gray; Complexion: Dark Height: 5'5"

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 25; Occupation: Blacksmith; Residence: Pittsburgh; Hair: Brown; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Fair; Height: 5'6 1/2" Remarks: Re-enlisted 3-23-64 at Licking Run, Va. Pr. to Sgt. 6-16-64. Trans. 7-2-64 to 155th P.V

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 21; Occupation: Farmer; Residence: McKeesport; Hair: Dark; Eyes: Gray; Complexion: Dark; Height: 5'9 1/2" Remarks: Pr. to Sgt. (date unknown). Died 6-15-64 from wounds received in action.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 20; Occupation: Student at Law; Residence: Pittsburgh; Hair: Auburn; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Fair; Height: 6' Remarks: Pr. to Sgt. (date unknown). Killed in action 7-2-63 at Gettysburg, Pa.

Thomas G. Davis | Private, Corporal
Mustered out with company, 13 July 1864.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 21; Occupation: Brickmaker; Residence: Pittsburgh; Hair: Brown; Eyes: Gray; Complexion: Fair; Height: 5'10 1/2"

Died 4 December 1914. Buried in Homewood Cemetery

Patrick McAllister | Private, Corporal
Captured at Gettysburg. Records indicate he was prisoner from 30 April 1863 to 1 January 1864, probably based on date of his last payday before being captured. He was held in Richmond. After release, he was transfered to a parole camp in Annapolis until 4 June 1864. Mustered out with company, 13 July 1864.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 22; Occupation: Riverman; Residence: Pittsburgh; Hair: Black; Eyes: Gray; Complexion: Dark; Height: 5'11 3/8" Remarks: Pr. to Corp (date unknown). Prisoner of War from 4-30-63 to 1-1-64. Rolls show last name as "McCallister".

According to his family, Pat was an Irish immigrant who obtained his US citizenship by joining the regiment. After the war he become a riverboat captain on the Ohio/Mississippi. He was fatally shot under suspicious circumstances by a fellow boat captain above Natchez, MS on 9 April 1880. He had a son Daniel. Pat was buried at St. Mary's cemetery in Pittsburgh.

His last name is spelled McAllister, M'Allister, McCalister, McCallister, McAlister in various documents.

Thanks to Alan Buehler for additional information about Corporal Pat McAllister.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 26; Occupation: Drayman; Residence: Alleghany County., Pa; Hair: Fair; Eyes: Brown; Complexion: Fair; Height: 5'5 3/4"

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 18; Occupation: Miller; Residence: Hancock Co., Va; Hair: Black; Eyes: Brown; Complexion: Dark; Height: 5'6"

Apple is buried in Spring Hill Cemetery, Wellsville, Ohio. His gravestone gives his birth and death dates as 1843 and 1879.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 22; Occupation: Bricklayer; Residence: Allegheny Co.; Hair: Dark; Eyes: Dark; Complexion: Dark; Height: 5'8"

Listed as Cockran in Bates. George, Augustus, and Henry Cochran were brothers, sons of George and Mary Cochran, according to the 1850 Census for Pittsburgh, 6th Ward.

Died 28 February 1903. Buried in Homewood Cemetery.

William R. Seitz | Corporal
Discharged on surgeon's certificate, 10 March 1862

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 18; Occupation: Axe Varnisher; Residence: Pittsburgh; Hair: [--]; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Fair; Height: 5'6" Remarks: Discharged n S.C. of D. Rolls shows middle initial as H.

Died 1 December 1917, according to Proceedings of the 52d Annual Encampment of the Department of Pennsylvania Grand Army of the Republic (Danville, 1918).

William Small | Corporal
Discharged on surgeon's certificate, 30 November 1862

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 23; Occupation: Coppersmith; Residence: Pittsburgh; Hair: Black; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Dark; Height: 5'8"

Clinton McMahon | Private, Corporal
Captured at Gainseville, 27 June 1862, as evidenced by his being listed on register of Prisoners Received at C. S. Prison [Richmond?] on June 27th and 29th, 1862. Discharged on surgeon's certificate, 1 December 1863

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 19; Occupation: Engineer; Residence: Madison County, Ill.; Hair: Brown; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Fair; Height: 5'8" Remarks: Pr. to Corp. 12-17-61. Discharged S.C. of D. Rolls show middle initial as L.

Alexander McCabe | Corporal
Mustered in on 20 August 1861. Transferred to Company G, 155th P.V., 2 July 1864., as a private, but never joined Company G. Discharged on general order (expiration of term) 23 August 1864.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 27; Occupation: Moulder; Residence: Pittsburgh; Hair: Sandy; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Fair; Height: 5'7" Remarks: Pr. to Corp. (date unknown). Trans. 7-2-64 to 155th P.V.

Died 20 August 1913, according to Proceedings of the 48th Annual Encampment of the Department of Pennsylvania Grand Army of the Republic (Indiana, 1914).

John G. Sherlein | Corporal
Mustered in 1 November 1861. Transferred to Company G, 155th P.V., 2 July 1864. Discharged by special order (expiration of term) 5 November 1864.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866 [from 155th P.V. record]: Age at Enrollment: 19, [no additional information listed]. Remarks:

Listed as John G. Sherline in 155th P. V. roster. He was a resident of Clarion County according to a list prepared by Mr. W.A. Beer [date n/a]. His mother Elizabeth Sherlein filed for a pension 4 December 1890. In the 1860 Census for the 8th Ward, Pittsburgh, he is listed with the spelling of "Sherline" aged 16, living with his parents, and working as a salesman. His parents were born in Bavaria and Saxony, but he was born in Pennsylvania.

William Speelman | Private, Corporal
Transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps, 1 September 1863.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 42; Occupation: Bricklayer; Residence: Turtle Creek; Hair: Dark; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Dark; Height: 5'11 1/2"; Remarks: Pr. to Corp (daate Unknown). Trans. 9-1-63 to Vet. Res. Corps. Rolls show middle initial C.

Henry Ruch | Corporal
Transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps, 1 September 1863.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866 [listed under Ruck]: Age at Enrollment: 26; Occupation: Brickmaker; Residence: Pittsburgh; Hair: Dark; Eyes: Brown; Complexion: Dark; Height: 5'9"; Remarks: Trans to Vet. Res. Corps 9-1-63. Pr. to Corp. (date unknown). Rolls show last name as Rush. Rolls show last name as "RUCH".

List of ex-soldiers, sailors and marines, living in Iowa published by the Iowa Adjutant General's Office in 1886, lists his name as Henry Ruch and his residence as Davenport. The 1880 Census for Davenport indicates Ruch was then 46 years old living in his brother's household and working as a brick manufacturer. Both brothers were born in Pennsylvania, but their father was born in Switzerland.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 21; Occupation: Farmer; Residence: Allegheny Co.; Hair: Light; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Fair; Height: 6'; Remarks: Rolls show last name as Brinney and Briney

Edward Brown | Corporal
Captured; Died at Libby Prison, Richmond, Va, 1 July 1862.

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 24; Occupation: Axe polisher; Residence: Pittsburgh; Hair: Brown; Eyes: Gray; Complexion: Fari Height: 5'7 3/4"

Musicians

Richard Cooper
Discharged on surgeon's certificate, 25 July 1863 (Bates) or 25 July 1862 (CWVCF)

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 24; Occupation: Coachmaker; Residence: Beaver Co.; Hair: Sandy; Eyes: Blue; Complexion: Light; Height: 5'10 1/2"

Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866: Age at Enrollment: 29; Occupation: Riverman; Residence: Temeranaceville.; Hair: Black; Eyes: Black; Complexion: Dark; Height: 5'9"

Notes

Oddly, no soldiers from this company are listed as having died before first battle. This was unusually, since typhoid fever became rampant during the fall and winter of 1861/62 while the regiment was stationed at Minor's Hill, Va.

The Veteran Reserve Corps, originally called the Invalid Corps, was the military body to which soldiers were transferred when they were not healthy enough to be sent back to their original unit, but not sick or disabled enough to be sent home.

Sources

Bates, Samuel Penniman. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5. Volume III & VIII. Harrisburg: B. Singerly, state printer, 1869-71; reprinted Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot, 1993. Also available online through Making of America.

Digital Archives of the State of Pennsylvania. Civil War Veterans' Card File, 1861-1866.

Back to the main Pennsylvania 62d Infantry Regiment page?

This page authored and maintained by John R. Henderson (jhenderson @ icyousee . org), Lodi, NY.
Last modified: 9 March 2012
URL: http://www.icyousee.org/pa62d/f.html