2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery Volunteers (112th Regiment)

History

October, 1861

War Department grants authority to recruit a battalion of Heavy Artillery, soon after extended to a regiment, which was designated the Second Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, One Hundred and Twelfth of the line.

January 8, 1862

Mustered into service at Philadelphia, Pa (10 batteries or companies) Battery "K" was mustered into service on February 11, 1862. Commanded by Captain, Amzi S. Fuller. This battery was recruited at Uniontown, Pennsylvania and thereabout by Amzi S. Fuller, John B. Krepps and Pressley Cannon.

"As soon as recruits were received, they were sent to Charles G. Zimmerman's "Diamond Cottage," a pleasure resort in the suburb of Camden, N.J., where a rendezvous camp (Camp Angeroth) was established, and where they were drilled in the 'school of the company'." (Ward, 1904)

Battery "K" Organization at time of recruitment

January 9, 1862

Cos. "D", "G", and "H" ordered to Fort Delaware

February 24, - March 19, 1862 (Washington defenses)

Cos. "A", "B", "C", "E", "F", "I", and "K" moved to Washington, D.C.

February 26, 1862

Established camp (tents pitched in a corn field) at Fort Lincoln near Bladensburg. Attached to Artillery Brigade, Military District of Washington. Duty in the fortifications north of the city.

"The fortifications consisted of a series of forts erected on every hill and connected by a ditch called a covered way. The forts the regiment were assigned to were Lincoln, Bunker Hill, Saratoga and Totten. Two additional forts, Slocum and Massachusetts were on the left of Fort Totten." (Ward)

"Fort Massachusetts (later Fort Stevens) covered the Seventh Street Road ... or Turnpike leading directly into Washington from Silver Spring.. with Forts Slocum and Totten positioned to the right as auxiliary works. Fort Lincoln, on a high elevation above the turnpike to Baltimore, was designed to control both that artery and nearby railroad line." (Cooling)

"The 2d Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery's expansion of Fort Massachusetts (into Fort Stevens) may have contributed another vignette to Lincolniana and the history of Fort Stevens. One of the fort's magazines (that in the original portion) had been constructed from the cellar of the old brick Emory Methodist chapel on the site. When the Pennsylvanians expanded the fort westward, they tore into the house of a free black woman, Mrs. Elizabeth "Aunt Betty" Thomas to build a second magazine. Aunty Betty recalled after the war that she could not understand the German speech of the officers and men until they threw her furniture out of the house and demolished the structure. That evening, as she sat under a nearby sycamore tree..her only shelter..with her six month-old baby in her arms, "a tall slender man, dressed in black, came up and said to me; 'it is hard, but you shall reap a great reward.' She claimed it was President Lincoln!" (Cooling)

Cos. "D", "G", and "H" rejoin Regiment in defense of Washington.

"From March, 1862, until sometime in the summer of that year, Batteries K and E, located at Fort Saratoga, left camp at 6:30 a.m. daily and marched to Slocum, where they worked until evening, returning to camp about 6 or 6:30 p.m." (Ward)

"The 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery took particular pride in its role of expanding Fort Massachusetts into Fort Stevens. The regimental historian declared, "'Historians will not likely condescend to give credit to this regiment's part in the defense against Early's advance... had Fort Massachusetts and Slocum remained as they were in 1862, Gen. Early would have had no difficulty in reaching Washington City by route of the Seventh Street Road.'" (Cooling)

August, 1862

Defenses of Washington north of the Potomac.

"Forts Slemmer, Bunker Hill and Saratoga, and Battery Morris, together with Forts Thayer, Lincoln, and Battery Jameson were generally manned by various companies of the same regiment. The 2d Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery regiment provided separate company-size garrisons for most of the forts in this sector of the line." (Cooling)

September 12, 1862

Battery K constructs a large masked battery in the copse west of Fort Lincoln.

"The masked battery ... built by battery K under the command of Lt. Pressley Cannon, and which was afterwards known as Battery Cannon, did full duty in protecting the Union Army from Confederate bullets." (Ward)

October, 1862

Regiment assigned to 1st Brigade, Haskins' Division north of the Potomac.

November 24, 1862

Companies "L" and "M" added to regiment.

February 1863

1st Brigade, Haskins' Division, 22nd Army Corps, Dept. of Washington, defenses north of the Potomac.

March 26, 1864

1st Brigade, DeRussy's Division, 22nd Army Corps, defenses south of the Potomac garrisoning Forts Ethan Allen (Battery K) and Marcy near the Chain Bridge.

"While thus engaged, the regiment became celebrated for its proficiency in drill and soldierly appearance, but to this time had no opportunity of displaying its skill in battle." (Bates, 1870)

April 20, 1864

New regiment formed from surplus recruits, "Second Provisional Heavy Artillery" and assigned to duty with the 9th Army Corps.

May 27, 1864

112th regiment formed as part of 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 18th Army Corps, Dept. of Virginia and North Carolina.

June 4, 1864

Arrived at Cold Harbor. Regiment formed into 3 battalions of 4 companies each. Commanding were: Major Anderson, First Battalion; Captain Jones, Second Battalion (Battery K); and Major Sadler, Third Battalion.

June 15, 1864

Marching from Cold Harbor, Meade's Army of the Potomac crossed the James River on transports and a 2,200-foot long pontoon bridge at Windmill Point. Butler's leading elements (XVIII Corps and Kautz's cavalry) crossed the Appomattox River at Windmill Point and attacked the Petersburg defenses on June 15.

"Fighting seemed to be going on all along the line, and we thought we might soon have to try our hands again; accordingly on the 18th we started for the front and were soon under the fire of the rebel artillery, we crossed a large field which had been the scene of a bloody action the previous evening, and quite a number of our dead were yet dying upon the field and seemed to be mostly of the 2d Pa. heavy artillery." (Valley Spirit, July 13, 1864, p. 5, c. 3: "Letter from the 21st Penna Cavalry." Valley of the Shadow. http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/

The 5,400 defenders of Petersburg under command of Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard were driven from their first line of entrenchments back to Harrison Creek. After dark the XVIII Corps was relieved by the II Corps.

June 18, 1864

Second Battalion ordered to join in a charge upon the rebel entrenched line between City Point Railroad and the Appomattox River on the Petersburg front. Capt. Jones severely wounded and replaced by Captain McClure of company "F". The regiment with the Eighty-ninth New York now constituted the Second Brigade, Second Division of the Eighteenth Corps.

July 11, 1864

General Jubal Early's Raid on Washington

"The opening shot of the Battle of Fort Stevens was fired at 11:30 AM by order of Captain J.N. Abbey, 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery from Fort Slocum." (Cooling)

July 21, 1864

Major Anderson assumes command of the regiment.

September 5, 1864

400 men, all that was left of the 2nd Provisional Heavy Artillery, rejoined the old regiment, 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery.

September 29, 1864 - - Fort Gilmer, Chaffin's Farm, New Market Heights, Fort Harrison, Laurel Hill

The First and Second battalions participated in the battle and capture of Fort Harrison, resulting in over two hundred in killed, wounded, and prisoners. Among the killed: Major Anderson and Lieutenant Cannon. Among the severely wounded: Lieutenants Krepps and Barba. Among the captured: Major Sadler and Lieutenants Wilson, Laughlin, and Mumford. As a result of this action, Captain McClure was promoted to Colonel and given regimental command, Captain Strawbridge promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and Captain Winger promoted to Major. The regiment occupied the line south of Fort Harrison (now Fort Burnham) until the 2nd of December.

October 27 - 28, 1864 - - Fair Oaks

The XVIII Corps marched north to Fair Oaks where it was soundly repulsed by Field's Confederate division. Confederate forces counterattacked, taking some 600 prisoners. The Richmond defenses remained intact. Of Grant's offensives north of the James River, this was repulsed most easily.

December 2, 1864

The 112th Regiment was ordered to the Bermuda Front. Provisional Brigade, Defenses of Bermuda Hundred, Va., Dept. of Virginia and North Carolina.

January 1865

Original term of regimental service expired. A large number re-enlisted, forming an aggregate of over two-thousand men.

March 7, 1865

Col. McClure honorably discharged and was succeeded by Lt. Col. Strawbridge, Major Winger being commissioned Lt. Colonel and Captains Schooley and Bailey, Majors.

March 31, 1865

The regiment charged upon the enemy's lines and again the following day, capturing some prisoners.

April 2, 1865

Regiment ordered to duty in occupying Petersburg. 1st Brigade, Ferrero's Division, Dept. of Virginia.

May, 1865

Regiment's companies were distributed through the lower counties of Virginia for the purpose of maintaining order and tranquillity. Sub-District of the Blackwater, Dept. of Virginia.

January 29, 1866

Regiment mustered out of service at City Point Virginia and returned to Philadelphia.

February 16, 1866

Regiment discharged at Philadelphia.

Casualties: 617

During service, the regiment lost 5 officers and 221 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 6 officers and 385 enlisted men by disease.

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