History of the 63rd Pennsylvania

The 63rd Pennsylvania was organized in Pittsburgh in August, 1861. They served in the defense of Washington until March, 1862. Attached the the 1st Brigade of Philip Kearny's, 3rd Division, (III Corps) of the Army of the Potomac, the 63rd Participated in the siege of Yorktown in April and May, the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5th, and the Battle of Fair Oaks on May 31 and June 1st. The Unit took part in the Seven Days, where George B. McClellan's furtive efforts to capture Richmond came to a disastrous end.

Stephen Sears describes some of the 63rd's tribulations during the night following the Battle of Oak Grove on June 25, 1862: "The night was miserable for the men in the ranks at Oak Grove. There were frequent alarms and bursts of firing along the new picket lines, and more than once friends fired on friends. Colonel Alexander Hayes of the 63rd Pennsylvania reported that in one such exchange, 'every picket and regiment opened fire upon the 63rd . . . Even our own pickets became bewildered and faced about to fire upon us.' He thought he was fortunate to escape with two dead and two wounded" (189).

At the June 30th Battle of Glendale 30th, the 63rd's losses would be inflicted by the enemy. A heavy Confederate assault fell on Kearny's division. When Colonel Thompson (Thompson's Battery) announced that his guns were running low on ammunition, the 63rd counterattacked, losing a third of the regiment but inflicting heavy loss on their assailants (the 1st New York, also defending Thompson's Battery, lost a horrific 230 men) (302-303).

The 63rd fought in the Battles of Groveton (August 29), Bull Run (August 30) and Chantilly (September 1). After the blood baths on the Peninsula and Manassas, the regiment was spared the horrors of South Mountain and Antietam to perform guard duty in Washington and Maryland. It was a brief respite, and the 63rd was present at Fredericksburg, and slogged through the mire in Burnside's infamous "Mud March."

May 3rd, 1863 saw the 63rd embroiled in the Battle of Chancellorsville. Outflanked by Archer's Brigade, and under heavy fire from two Confederate batteries, the 63rd withdrew with frightful losses (Sears: 1996, 317). Defeat brought with it a grim tally: 10 dead, 70 wounded and 38 missing.

To this point in the war, the 63rd was present at most of the Army of the Potomac's worst defeats. The unit was not present for victory at South Mountain, or the bloody draw at Antietam. However, on July 2nd, 1863 the 63rd skirmished in the Peach Orchard near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The unit kept a heavy fire on the enemy, before being sent to the rear to replenish its ammunition. Harry Pfanz describes this move as "a wasteful thing to do, for its casualties were low and it must have had a lot of fight left in it" (322). Major John A Danks gives the following account:

On the morning of July 2, the enemy made his appearance in our front and opened fire on our outposts. Firing was kept up until the general engagement was brought on, between the hours of 3 and 4 p.m.

At 5:30 P.M. the regiment was relieved from the picket line by a regiment of the Second Division, Third Corps. I then withdrew the regiment, our ammunition having been exhausted; fell back in good order, when I moved the balance of the brigade, and, after a few minutes' rest, moved forward with the brigade to an open field, where we encamped for the night.

Early on the morning of the 3rd, we were again ordered to the front, where we lay in position until 10 a.m., when the enemy attempted to pierce the center of the line. To this point we were ordered to move as rapidly as possible, which the regiment accomplished, and immediately took a position in support of a battery. We were exposed during the day to a severe fire of shot and shell (Rollins, Shultz, 48).

Of the 246 men the 63rd brought to Gettysburg, the regiment lost 1 killed, 29 wounded and 4 missing.

The 63rd was actively involved in the Army of the Potomac's campaigns following Gettysburg. Meade cautiously pursued Lee throughout July, before launching the Bristoe Campaign in October, and the Mine Run Campaign in late November. The Campaign season of 1864 commenced with the Rapidan Campaign in May, and the dreadful Battle of the Wilderness. The 63rd accompanied the Army during these campaigns, and saw action at Laurel Hill (May 8), and Po River (May 10) From May 12-21, the regiment fought at Spotsylvania Courthouse. Further battles followed; North Anna River on May 23-26, Totopotomoy on May 29-31, and the Horror of Cold Harbor on June 1-12.

From June 16 until September 5, 1864, the 63rd fought in the Siege of Petersburg. On September 5th, Veterans and Recruits were transferred to the 105th Pennsylvania, and the regiment was mustered out on September 9, 1864. The regiment suffered 320 deaths during service: 17 officers and 169 men were killed or mortally wounded, while disease claimed the lives of 1 officer and 133 men.

Sources

Much of my general information regarding dates and overall deaths was drawn from the III Corps Website. The site also gives a more detailed listing of Corps affiliations, dates and engagements.

For the accounts of the 63rd in the Seven Days and Chancellorsville, I relied on Stephen W. Sear's To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1992, and Chancellorsville. Boston: Mariner Books, 1996.

I drew information regarding the 63rd at Gettysburg from Harry W. Pfanz's Gettysburg: The Second Day. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P., 1987 and Richard Rollins and David Schultz's Guide to Pennsylvania Troops at Gettysburg. Redondo Beach, California: Rank and File Publications, 1998.

The Historic Pittsburgh site has the text of Gilbert Adams Hays' Under the red patch; story of the Sixty third regiment, Pennslvania volunteers, 1861-1864 scanned in. Like any image based online text, it can be cumbersome to navigate; nonetheless, this is a valuable and exciting resource for scholars.