The 53rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was a volunteer infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
History Formation The regiment was organized at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1861, with John R. Brooke, of Pottstown, Montgomery County, was commissioned colonel on August 21. Brooke had previously served as a captain in the three-month 4th Pennsylvania Infantry, and he immediately commenced recruiting his own regiment. By late September, the first companies had been organized and the first company was mustered into the service of the United States on September 28 at Camp Curtin.53d Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers
Ten companies were eventually formed, raised in the following counties: Company A, Montgomery County Company B, Chester and Montgomery Counties Company C, Blair and Huntingdon Counties Company D, Centre and Clearfield Counties Company E, Carbon and Union Counties Company F, Luzerne County Company G, Potter County Company H, Northumberland County Company I, Juniata County Company K, Westmoreland County
Richard McMichael of Berks County was commissioned lieutenant colonel, Thomas Yeager of Lehigh County major, and Charles P. Hatch of Philadelphia was appointed adjutant. While at Harrisburg, the regiment performed provost guard duty in the city.
On November 7, the 53rd moved to Washington and encamped north of the Capitol before crossing the Potomac River on the 27th, and went into camp near Alexandria. Here, the regiment was assigned to the brigade of Brigadier General William H. French in General Edwin Sumner's division of the newly organized Army of the Potomac.
The regiment participated in the general advance of the army under Irwin McDowell toward Manassas Junction in March 1862, which had been evacuated by Confederate forces on the 12th. On March 21, Brooke's command supported General Oliver O. Howard's Philadelphia Brigade in its reconnaissance to Warrenton Junction and beyond to the Rappahannock River. The regiment remained near the junction until ordered to return to Manassas on March 23 and then back to Alexandria. Upon the re-organization of the army that spring, French's brigade was designated as the Third Brigade in the First Division, II Corps. General Sumner having moved up to corps command; the division was now commanded by General Israel B. Richardson.
First battles in Virginia The II Corps was transferred with the army to the Peninsula to take part in Major General George McClellan's drive on Richmond. The first action the regiment took part in was during the Siege of Yorktown (1862),with the 53rd being held in reserve. The regiment briefly took part in the pursuit of the Confederate army before being ordered back to Yorktown on May 6. During the advance on Richmond which following the siege, the Fifty-third assisted engineers in constructing the famous "grapevine bridge" across the Chickahominy River, from May 28 to the 30th. The Fifty-third's first major battle was at the Battle of Fair Oaks on June 1, 1862. Sent into the middle of the battle, the regiment was temporarily disorganized, but was still able to drive back the Confederates. Ninety-six men killed, wounded, and missing during the battle, including Major Yeager, who was killed.
The 53rd fought during the Seven Days Battles, which began on June 27, when Confederate forces attacked the V Corps near Gaines' Mill. Richardson's division was rushed forward to the corps' assistance, crossing the Chickahominy and came under fire of Confederate artillery and infantry. Forming in line of battle, the division covered the Union withdrawal and at midnight re-crossed the Chickahominy. The regiment fought again at the Battle of Savage's Station on June 29 in order to protect Union supplies and wounded near the railroad station. After a short fight, the Confederates withdrew and the retreat was resumed at midnight, French's brigade acting as rearguard for the corps. At daylight the regiment reached White Oak Creek and rejoined the corps. The regiment was assisting in the destruction to a bridge when Confederate skirmishers appeared and opened fire on the Union troops. A number of Confederate batteries opened fire on the Union lines, though did little damage. Although not seriously engaged, the regiment lost several men wounded. The regiment withdrew with its brigade soon after midnight and marched to Malvern Hill, arriving on the morning of July 1. Though constantly under artillery fire throughout the Battle of Malvern Hill, no further losses were inflicted on the regiment.
The 53rd camped with the corps near Harrison's Landing on the James River until August 16. While here, the 64th New York was temporarily attached to the regiment for drill, discipline, and camp duty, all under command of Major Octavius S. Bull, promoted to fill the vacancy left by the death of Yeager. Brooke was placed in temporary command the brigade at this time, since General French who was ill. McMichael took a temporary leave due to sickness, one of over a hundred men of the regiment who suffered from illnesses during the campaign.
On August 16, the regiment marched to Newport News where it embarked for Alexandria, arriving on the 28th and camping next day near the Aqueduct Bridge. On the 30th, the brigade marched to Centreville, where it was deployed to protect the exposed flanks of the Union army in its retreat from Bull Run. It was near Vienna, Virginia, that the 53rd and one section of a battery were placed on the Leesburg Turnpike to guard the flank of the column. Suddenly, Confederate cavalry appeared and charged upon the Union column between the pike and Chain Bridge, separating the 53rd from the main column. Recognizing the danger, Colonel Brooke immediately rushed his regiment down the pike to rejoin the last of the column before their retreat was cut off. Soon after the battle, General French left the brigade to take command of the Third Division, II Corps, leaving Brooke in command of the brigade, a post he would hold off and on for the remainder of the war. Immediately thereafter, the Army of the Potomac moved towards western Maryland in response to the Confederate invasion. The Second Corps moved to Frederick, Maryland, and thence to South Mountain, where the regiment was held in reserve during the Battle of South Mountain on September 14. The next day it skirmished during the morning with Confederate cavalry near Boonsboro and Keedysville.
On September 17, the II Corps was moved to the Union right to support the Union I Corps during the Battle of Antietam. General Richardson formed his division in lines of battle on the Roulette Farm, with the Fifty-third placed on the extreme right of the division, to the west of the Miller cornfield. Not quite a half mile ahead of the division was a "sunken road" occupied by a North Carolina brigade and an Alabama brigade, with a second line placed behind a stone wall on a slight ridge that covered the road and open approaches. Initial charges on the road met with disaster, including the mortal wounding of General Richardson. Finally the order came for French's brigade to move up and charge the enemy position. The Fifty-third charged towards the sunken road, driving back a dense skirmish line and falling upon the collapsing Confederate center. Further penetration beyond the road could not be accomplished. The Fifty-third was ordered to the support of a battery in a nearby orchard, where they remained for the rest of the day under constant artillery fire. Twenty-eight men of the regiment were killed and wounded at this battle.
Fredericksburg to Gettysburg On September 22, the regiment forded the Potomac River at Harper's Ferry and encamped on the following day on Bolivar Heights, where new shoes and clothing were given to the men to replace the clothing worn since the previous winter. On October 16, 1862, the regiment was sent on a reconnaissance to Charlestown, reaching the town before evening and capturing some prisoners before returning to Bolivar Heights. On October 30, the division crossed the Shenandoah River and proceeded down the Loudoun Valley, skirmishing with Confederate troops at Snicker's Gap on November 4. Here, Major General Ambrose Burnside assumed command of the Army of the Potomac and the movement upon Fredericksburg was begun. The Fifty-third marched to Falmouth where it arrived on November 19 and performed provost guard duty until December 11. It then took up a position opposite Fredericksburg in support of Union batteries engaged in the bombardment of the town.
Early the next morning, the regiment crossed the Rappahannock River and formed a skirmish line to drive rebel sharpshooters out of the city. One soldier was mortally wounded during the street fighting, before the 53rd was relieved and rested for the night on the river bank. Early on the morning of Saturday, December 13, the regiment marched through the fog into the streets of Fredericksburg and halted for an hour under Confederate artillery fire from Marye's Heights, west of the city where the Battle of Fredericksburg had begun. The brigade, commanded by Colonel Samuel K. Zook, rushed up St. Charles Street and formed in line of battle on the edge of town. The regiment reportedly got within 60 yards of the stone wall. Despite suffering heavy casualties and running low on ammunition, Brooke held his position, withdrawing back into the city after nightfall. The 53rd lost 39 killed and 119 wounded in the battle out of 283 officers and men.
The regiment wintered at Falmouth and did not to take part in the Mud March that January. Three companies under command of Major Bull were detailed as provost guard at division headquarters and the major assigned to the staff of General Couch. Bull remained at Second Corps headquarters successively with subsequent corps commanders until May 1864. After the appointment of Major General Joseph Hooker to army command, the 1st Division was divided into four brigades, with the Fourth commanded by Colonel Brooke and including the 53rd Pennsylvania, 27th Connecticut, 2nd Delaware, 145th Pennsylvania, and 64th New York.
On April 28, the Union Army began the Chancellorsville Campaign, crossing the Rappahannock River at United States Ford and moving into the Wilderness. The regiment was actively engaged on the skirmish line during the Battle of Chancellorsville, at one point in support of a battery near the Chancellor House with the 2nd Delaware and 145th Pennsylvania. One officer and several enlisted men were wounded by Confederate artillery fire, but the regiment stayed until ordered to withdraw. During the retreat, several men from the regiment manage to drag two guns from the battery three miles to the ford over the river. The Fifty-third remained on the battlefield until May 5 when, with the Irish Brigade, Brooke's brigade acted as a rear guard while the army withdrew. Losses for the regiment during the campaign were one officer and seven men wounded, with three missing and presumed captured.
The Second Corps returned to their old winter camps near Falmouth, where they remained until June 14 when the Fifty-third left camp and marched to Banks' Ford to observe Confederate movement westward. Having found that the Confederate columns had passed, the Fifty-third moved with the army northward, including a forced march to Thoroughfare Gap on June 20. Here the regiment remained on picket until the 25th when the enemy attacked, driving in the outposts and forcing the command to withdraw. Luckily the corps had passed through the gap hours earlier and the regiment soon rejoined its division as they crossed the Potomac River and marched to the vicinity of Frederick, Maryland. General Hooker was removed from command on June 28, and was replaced by Major General George G. Meade, who sent the army northward the next day to find Lee and draw him into battle. The Battle of Gettysburg started on July 1.