Question

short diary entry about a moment of glory you experienced regarding country

Answer 1

What does it mean to be brave?” wrote Private Robert F. Miller to his mother in 1863. “To do what you have to do when other people are counting on you,” was his own reply.

At 3:00 pm. on Wednesday, July 1, 1863, the 467 officers and men of the 151st Pennsylvania Volunteers regiment were counting on each other as they were ordered into position.

The place was Gettysburg.

After the 1st Corps of the Army of the Potomac had been fighting all day, a gap in the Union line opened around McPhearson’s Ridge, just west of town. To stay the Confederate tide which was fast sweeping on, the last reserve, the 151st, was thrown into action. Those Pennsylvania Volunteers had not yet gained their position when men began to fall. They had been told not to fire a shot until the word was given.

The 26th North Carolina of Pettigrew’s command, Heth’s Division, approached the 151st. The Tarheels came up to within 20 paces of the line of the Pennsylvanians. Then, the two regiments riddled each other at almost point-blank range with annihilating volleys which produced “losses the most remarkable in the annals of war!”

The 26th NC lost 584 out of 800 men, 11 shot down while bearing the colors. The 151st PA lost 337 men of the 467 engaged – a loss of 79% . The staggering losses occurred chiefly in the space of 40 minutes. Confederate Major General Henry Heth wrote of his adversary: “His dead marked his line of battle with the accuracy of a line at a dress parade.”

Gettysburg was to be the climax for the 151st Pennsylvania Volunteers, their one moment of glory. The regiment’s recruits were in large measure from the farms of Berks County:

Company E had been recruited in Ontelaunee Township (Jacob S. Graeff, captain);

Company G came from the Bernville environs (Levi M. Gerhart, captain);

Company H was from Upper Tulpehocken Township (William K BoItz, captain);

Company K had been recruited in Longswamp Township (James W. Weida, captain);

Company I had been put together with men from northern Berks and adjacent Schuylkill County (William L. Grey, captain).

Companies A and C were recruited in Susquehanna County, B in Pike County, F in Warren County, and D in Juniata County.

It was the unique make-up of the Juniata contingent that caused the 151st to become known as the “teacher’s regiment.” There were 113 teachers in the ranks of D Company, including most of the teachers from the McAlisterville Academy in Juniata County, of which Lieutenant Colonel George F. McFarland was the principal.