The 125th Pennsylvania Infantry volunteered during the American Civil War and served a 9-month term from August 1862 to May 1863. It selected the motto In God We Trust. The Regiment fought at the Battle of Antietam under the leadership of Colonel Jacob C. Higgins less than six weeks after being recruited in Blair, Cambria and Huntingdon Counties. The Regiment was noted for its charge through the East Woods, along the Great Cornfield, down Smoketown Road, past the Dunker Church, and into the West Woods. While in formation beyond the Dunker Church in an 'overextended' position, the Regiment repulsed four counterattacks at a price of 229 casualties (33% of engaged) within 20 minutes. A fifth, heavily reinforced Confederate counterattack forced a retreat with a desperate struggle to retain the Regimental colors. Two weeks before the end of their enlistment, the 125th Pennsylvania also occupied the perimeter of Chancellorsville, Virginia, during the Battle of Chancellorsville.

Composition

As the Civil War extended into its second year, President Abraham Lincoln appealed nationally for 300,000 additional men on July 1, 1862. In response on July 21, Governor A. G. Curtin called for 21 new regiments from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with nine-month enlistments. Four regiments were expected from Blair and Huntingdon Counties, and the 125th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers was recruited as ten companies from late July through early August. Company Primary Location of Recruitment, County Earliest Captain A Tyrone, Blair Francis M. Bell B Williamsburg, Blair Ulyses L. Hewit C Huntingdon, Huntingdon,Also known as the "Huntingdon Bible Company". William W. Wallace, coiner, circa August 1862,of motto "In God We Trust". D Altoona, Blair Christian Hostetter E East Freedom, Blair William McGraw F Broad Top Region, Huntingdon John J. Lawrence G Hollidaysburg, Blair John McKeage H Huntingdon, Huntingdon Henry H. Gregg I Huntingdon, Huntingdon William F. Thomas K Altoona, Blair (with approximately half fromCambria County) Joseph W. Gardner They came from all walks of life, namely, elected official, professional, businessman, mechanic, farmer or day laborer, and the great majority had no prior military experience. Although the draft would come to Pennsylvania in September, the members of the 125th enlisted earlier and primarily for "patriotic motives".

Campaigns Battle of Antietam (1st Div, 1st Brigade) Mud March (1st Div, 2nd Brigade) Battle of Chancellorsville (2nd Div, 2nd Brigade)

Battle of Antietam

After mustering at Harrisburg, the regiment was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, XII Corps in the Army of the Potomac while they trained at Washington, D.C. They marched from Washington to Frederick to Sharpsburg in response to the Confederate Army's crossing of the Potomac River into Maryland. Less than six weeks after mustering, with a minimum of training, and without combat experience they entered the battle on the morning of September 17, 1862.

As the fighting effectiveness of General Hooker's First Corps waned, the Twelfth Corps marched into battle under the command of General Joseph K. F. Mansfield. Certain that the five new regiments of Williams' First Division would run away if deployed in line of battle, Mansfield ordered the First Brigade to lead in a tight formation known as close column of companies. This deterrent to flight transformed the massed troops into an ideal artillery target. As shot and shell began to fly over and drop nearby, a single strike could have killed dozens of men.

After the regiment deployed into an inverted and prone line of battle, Captain Gardner of Company K noticed that there was something wrong with a mounted General Mansfield as he returned from a forward reconnaissance position. He ordered Sergeant John Coho and Private Samuel Edmiston to Mansfield's assistance, and his men were joined by Private E.S. Rudy of Company H and two men from a nearby regiment. The five saw the General was seriously wounded, helped him from his horse, lifted him onto their reversed muskets, carried him on this improvised chair to safety in the rear, and turned him over to a surgeon and team of stretcher bearers before they returned to duty.

After a delay for re-organization of the Corps command, the 125th Pennsylvania moved forward to support Monroe's First Rhode Island Battery (I Corps, 1 Div) near the intersection of Smoketown Road and Mumma Farm Lane at about 8:30. They were then detached from the XII Corps, 1st Division, and made a stand with Tyndale's and Stainbrook's Brigades of Greene's 2nd Division (XII), forcing the Confederates to temporarily withdraw from the West Woods.

By 8:50, they remained the lone Union element in the lower enclosure of the West Woods. By about 9:00, as the Confederates counter-attacked, the 34th NY (II,2) arrived to the 125th Pennsylvania's rear, while the 7th MI (II,2) arrived remotely to the 125th Pennsylvania's right, and Sumner's (II Corps) "Disaster in the West Woods" began.

Receiving heavy fire from Kershaw's Brigade of McLaw's Division under Longstreet and Early's brigade of Ewell's Division under Stonewall Jackson, the outnumbered 125th Pennsylvania and 34th NY resisted for a few more minutes, during which time they sustained a very high rate of casualties, and were finally forced to retreat. Sensing a rout, the Confederates followed the retreating regiments and continued to administer fire until Union artillery elements stalled their pursuit. The 125th Pennsylvania remained with Monroe's Battery (now re-positioned near the intersection of Smoketown Road and Mumma Farm Lane) until the end of the Battle.

The commander of II Corps, 2nd Division, 1st Brigade, Brigadier General Willis A. Gorman, observed the performance and fate of the 125th Pennsylvania and commented, "On our left, in the woods, there was a force that told me they belonged to General Crawford's brigade, that were posted there when we first entered it. They fought handsomely until the heavy force of the enemy turned their left, when they retired rapidly, and by this movement in five minutes the enemy's fire came pouring hotly on our left flank and rear."

Battle analysis In his memoirs General William T. Sherman decried a systematic problem which the 125th Pennsylvania fell prey to at Antietam, along with many other Regiments in their initial battles:"The greatest mistake in our civil war was in the mode of recruitment and promotion. When a regiment became reduced by the necessary wear and tear of service, instead of being filled up at the bottom, and the vacancies among the officers filled from the best non-commissioned officers and men, the habit was to raise new regiments, with new colonels, captains, and men, leaving the old and experienced battalions to dwindle away into mere skeleton organizations."Significantly, Antietam was the last battle fought in the east without the construction of field fortifications, although naturally occurring features, such as the Sunken Road and the quarry holes above the Burnside Bridge, were exploited as rifle pits. Three months after Antietam at Fredericksburg, several of Longstreet's divisions fought behind breastworks, and eight months after Antietam at Chancellorsville, both armies constructed hasty fortifications at every opportunity.</p>

Battlefield monument Inscription Location Text Foot of Statue COLOR SERGEANTGEORGE A. SIMPSONKILLED AT ANTIETAM Front Bronze Plaque 125TH PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY1ST BRIGADE 1ST DIVISION12TH CORPSRECRUITED IN BLARHUNTINGDON AND CAMBRIACOUNTIES PENNA. Left Side Bronze Plaque MOVED AT EARLY DAWN FROM BIVOUAC ON FARM OF GEORGE LINE TO EAST WOODSNEAR POINT WHERE GEN. J.K.F. MANSFIELD WAS MORTALLY WOUNDED FROM THERE TOSUPPORT MONROE'S FIRST RHODE ISLANDBATTERY ON SMOKETOWN ROAD THEN TO WOODS THAT STOOD HERE SEPTEMBER 171862. WAS THE FIRST UNION REGIMENTTHEREIN BEING FAR ADVANCED AND WITHOUTSUFFICIENT SUPPORT IT WAS OUTFLANKED BY THE ENEMY AND RETIRED BEHIND BATTERIESIN FIELD IN REAR AND SUBSEQUENTLYSAVED THE GUNS OF MONROE'S BATTERYFROM CAPTURE. REMAINED IN LINE UNTILCLOSE OF BATTLE MONUMENT IS NEARTHE LEFT OF ITS MAIN LINE OF BATTLE.LOSS AT ANTIETAM KILLED AND DIED OF WOUNDS 54SERIOUSLY WOUNDED 91SLIGHTLY WOUNDED AND NOT REPORTED 84[TOTAL] 229

The 125th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Monument on the Antietam Battlefield was dedicated on September 17, 1904, and is located on Confederate Avenue behind (West) of the Dunker Church. During the 125th Pennsylvania's withdrawal from the indicated position in the West Woods, one of the most dramatic events in the regiment's history began with the regimental color-bearer, Sergeant George Simpson who stands immortalized in granite on top of the monument: After receiving a bullet to the brain, Simpson fell on the flag and stained it with blood oozing from his right temple. Corporal Eugene Boblitz of Company H grabbed the colors and was soon felled with a leg wound that crippled him for life. Several other soldiers were shot trying to save the colors. Finally, Sergeant W.W. Greenland snatched up the bloodstained banner and passed it on to Captain William Wallace, who used it to rally the regiment. About 200 men formed in line, and about 60 gathered around the much-contested colors in protection. In the twenty-first century, there is often much debate over how we treat the flag. In the Civil War, there was none. Many soldiers were willing to give their lives for that flag.

Mud March

By October 26, 1862, the 125th Pennsylvania had been reassigned to the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division (XII Corps) under Brigadier General Thomas L. Kane and newly positioned at Loudon Heights, VA, near Harper's Ferry, for extended drilling. Departing on December 10, one leg of the 125th Pennsylvania's march toward Fredericksburg was brilliantly fortunate (avoiding Burnside's signature disaster), but the second leg coincided with Burnside's fatal act of futility, the Mud March.

Escorting the XII Corps' train of ammunition wagons from Dumfries (January 20) to Stafford Courthouse (January 24), the 125th Pennsylvania endured the same days of heavy rain which stalled the movement of the Army's Center Grand Division (III and V Corps) toward Banks' Ford. All participants in the Mud March moved very slowly or became stuck fast, and Burnside's aspirations for success at Fredericksburg expired with his command.

Battle of Chancellorsville

April 27–30

On April 27–28, the initial three corps of the Army of the Potomac began their march under the leadership of General Henry W. Slocum. They crossed the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers as planned and began to concentrate on April 30 around the hamlet of Chancellorsville, which was little more than a single large, brick mansion at the junction of the Orange Turnpike and Orange Plank Road.

Upon reaching Chancellorsville on April 30, 1863, General Joseph Hooker deployed the Army of the Potomac in a defensive perimeter around the intersection. Slocum's Twelfth Corps held the center of the Union line, and for three days, his troops entrenched, creating a sturdy earthwork screened by a line of fallen trees known as abatis.

May 1