The 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment (also known as the 163rd Pennsylvania Volunteers) was a cavalry regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was present for 50 battles, beginning with the Battle of Hanover in Pennsylvania on June 30, 1863, and ending with a skirmish at Rude's Hill in Virginia during March 1865. A majority of its fighting was in Virginia, although its first major battle was in Pennsylvania's Gettysburg campaign. It was consolidated with the 22nd Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment on June 24, 1865, to form the 3rd Provisional Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment.
The regiment was organized at Pittsburgh and Harrisburg between October and December 1862. Green County was the source of recruits for three companies, while additional recruits came from elsewhere in the state. Companies L and M were late additions to the regiment, and were originally meant to be part of a 19th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment. Recruits for these two companies were mostly from the Philadelphia area.
The regiment served in the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the Shenandoah. Among major battles where it saw action were the Battle of the Wilderness, the Third Battle of Winchester, and the Battle of Cedar Creek. It had five officers and 55 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded. Disease killed two more officers and 232 enlisted men. Captured members of the regiment were kept in Libby Prison in Richmond and Andersonville Prison in Georgia, among others. The regiment was commanded by two colonels: Timothy M. Bryan and Theophilus F. Rodenbough; Lieutenant Colonel William P. Brinton and Major John W. Phillips also commanded the regiment in the field.
Formation and organization Between December 20, 1860, and February 1, 1861, seven southern states seceded from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America. Fighting began on April 12, 1861, when local militia attacked United States troops at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. This is considered the beginning of the American Civil War. Four additional states seceded during the next three months. Ending the rebellion took longer than government leaders expected, and President Abraham Lincoln called for more troops on July 2, 1862. In response to Lincoln's call for volunteer troops, CompaniesA through K (there was no J) were mustered into the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment from August through November. The regiment was also known as "One Hundred and Sixty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers". Four of the companies were first organized in Pittsburgh, while six of the companies were organized at Camp Simmons near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. CompaniesA, C, and G were recruited from Greene County, and CompaniesB and D were recruited from Crawford County. Major sources for additional recruits were Allegheny, Cambria, Dauphin, Lycoming, and Washington counties. Captain James E. Gowen of CompanyE was promoted to lieutenant colonel on November 25, 1862, and was the regiment's highest-ranking officer over the next few months. The other original leaders were Majors Joseph Gilmore, William B. Darlington, and Henry B. Van Voorhis.
In early December 1862 the regiment moved by rail to the Bladensburg, Maryland area, close to Washington, D.C. They received training at this location, and were armed with a saber and Merrill carbine. Cavalry soldiers considered this carbine inferior and "comparatively worthless". Timothy M. Bryan Jr. was appointed colonel and commander of the regiment effective December 24, but did not assume command until May 1863. A West Point graduate, he had been an officer in the regular U.S. Army, and had previously been a lieutenant colonel with the 12th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. Without Bryan, the regiment had its first mounted drill on December 25. Beginning January 1863, the regiment was attached to Colonel Percy Wyndham's Cavalry Brigade for the defense of Washington. The 5th New York Cavalry and 1st Vermont Cavalry Regiments were also part of Wyndam's brigade. Camp for the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry was moved to Virginia on January 1, 1863, and settled a week later on the Little River Turnpike about from Fairfax Courthouse.
Early action Historian Robert W. Black observes "the 18th Pennsylvania would become a fine regiment", but "in January 1863, it was a collection of civilians in uniform, poorly equipped and armed." Their first scouting task was on January 11, when a portion of the regiment went on a late-night patrol with the 1st Virginia Cavalry Regiment, which was loyal to the Union. January and February were spent on picket duty, scouting missions, and drilling. A major foe in this area of Virginia was Major John Mosby and his partisan Rangers. Soldiers of the brigade considered Mosby's force "very formidable", and pickets were always under the threat of a surprise attack. On January 18, Mosby captured 11 pickets from the regiment. A few days letter, he sent a few of the captured men back to the regiment with a message that said the regiment needs to be better equipped and armed because it did not currently pay to capture them.
The regiment was finally completed on February 1 when CompaniesL andM were added. The recruits for those companies were from the Philadelphia area. They were originally intended to be part of a 19th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment, but that initial organization failed and they were added to the 18th. When the two companies were added, the regiment became part of Colonel Richard Butler Price's Independent Cavalry Brigade, XXII Army Corps, Department of Washington. On March 1, Gowen was discharged, and the regiment's new lieutenant colonel was William Penn Brinton, who was promoted from captain in the 2nd Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment. The regiment continued to show its inexperience on March 1 when Major Joseph Gilmore led 200 men on a westward reconnaissance toward Aldie, Virginia. Gilmore did not follow all of his orders, and mistook some men from the 1st Vermont Cavalry for enemy soldiers. He turned his command and fled at full speed from the Vermont cavalry—which caused him to be court-martialed.
In April, the regiment became part of the Third Brigade, Brigadier General Julius Stahel's Cavalry Division, XXII Army Corps. Improvements were made to the regiment over the next 3 months. On April 1, revolvers, new sabers, and belts were issued. Bryan joined the regiment on May 3—bringing experience and training from West Point and the regular army. Burnside carbines were issued on June 21—an inferior weapon but an improvement over the Merrill carbines originally issued.
Gettysburg Campaign
The Army of the Potomac, including its two cavalry divisions, moved northward from Fredericksburg, Virginia, toward Frederick, Maryland, crossing the Potomac River on June 25 and 26, 1863. Stahal's cavalry division (including the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry) was detached from defending Washington so that it could join the Army of the Potomac and help defend Pennsylvania from an invasion by General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. The regiment began moving north on June 25.
The entire Union army force was reorganized on June 28 at Frederick, and the regiment became part of the 3rd Division of the Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick was the division's commander. The division's First Brigade consisted of the 1st Vermont, 1st West Virginia (formerly the loyal 1st Virginia), 5th New York, and 18th Pennsylvania cavalry regiments. The first three regiments were veteran units, but the 18th Pennsylvania had not yet seen a major fight. Brigadier General Elon J. Farnsworth commanded the First Brigade, and Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer commanded the Second Brigade—which consisted of regiments from Michigan. Major General Joseph Hooker was relieved of command, at his request, of the Army of the Potomac, and he was replaced by Major General George Meade. The cavalry corps commander was Major General Alfred Pleasonton. Brinton commanded the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment.
Battle of Hanover Kilpatrick's division was detached eastward as the army moved from Frederick, Maryland, to Pennsylvania. Its mission was to prevent Confederate cavalry under the command of Major General James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart from joining the rest of Lee's army. On June 30 the division proceeded to the small town of Hanover, Pennsylvania. Kilpatrick, his staff, and his bodyguards (one company from the 1st Ohio Cavalry Regiment) led the division. They were followed by Custer's Second Brigade, the artillery, and then the First Brigade. Farnsworth rode at the front of the First Brigade with the 1st Vermont Cavalry Regiment. The 1st West Virginia and 5th New York Cavalry Regiments followed them. The 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment had rear guard duty. The extreme rear guard consisted of 40 men from CompanyL and CompanyM led by Lieutenant Henry C. Potter, and they were about behind the main portion of the regiment. A small group of "less than a dozen" men, led by Captain Thadeus Freeland of CompanyE, protected the right flank as it moved a few miles east of the road to Hanover. Not far from Gitt's Mill, Freeland's men and an enemy scouting party from the 13th Virginia Cavalry Regiment spotted each other, and a long-range shot killed one of the Confederates—the first casualty of the Battle of Hanover.
Freeland and his men rode toward the regiment to warn of the danger, but instead found more men from the 13th Virginia Cavalry Regiment, which quickly surrounded the Pennsylvanians and captured them without firing a shot. When Potter and his men were about from Hanover, they found their path to town blocked by the same group of about 60 Confederates who demanded their surrender. Potter's men responded by firing at the enemy soldiers and charging through them toward town. They were followed by the enemy force and came upon the rest of the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry—dismounted and mingling with the locals. Lieutenant Samuel H. Tresonthick was the only officer in the rear. Most of the division had already passed through the town, but ahead of the 18th Pennsylvania was the 5th New York Cavalry, which was also enjoying refreshments and greetings provided by the locals. Soon the Confederates fired an artillery shot into town, and Union soldiers faced attacks from the 13th Virginia Cavalry, a battalion from the 2nd North Carolina Cavalry Regiment, and finally the 9th Virginia Cavalry Regiment. Most of the Union fighters in the streets were from the 18th Pennsylvania and 5th New York Cavalry Regiments. After close-quarter fighting, the Confederates withdrew to the cover of their artillery in the hills. The streets were full of dead and wounded men and horses. Kilpatrick directed a counterattack by portions of Farnsworth's First Brigade and Custer's Second Brigade. The counterattack silenced the Confederate big guns, and Stuart's men were driven away in this inconclusive battle. Casualties for all participants on both sides totaled to 228. Casualties for the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment were four killed, 30 wounded, and 52 missing. Some of the men received saber wounds, including Lieutenant John Britton.
Battle of Gettysburg
On July 1, Farnsworth's Brigade was in the Abbottstown-Berlin area of Pennsylvania. They chased rebel cavalry and captured several prisoners. On July 2, the division moved closer to Gettysburg, and was on the right side of the entire Union army—close to New Oxford and Hunterstown. On July 3, the First Brigade moved to the left wing of the army, about from Gettysburg near two hills known as Little Round Top and Big Round Top. For most of the day, the 18th Pennsylvania was at the rear of the brigade, and conducted only a few scouting tasks with small groups of soldiers.