15th Pennsylvania Cavalry

== Regimental History and Service Record ==
* Also referred to as the 160th Pennsylvania Volunteers
 
 
 In Brief
Organized at Carlisle, Pa., July to October, 1862. Engaged in scout and picket duty near Chambersburg, Pa., during Maryland Campaign, September 6-24, 1862. Attached to Cavalry Division, Army Potomac, unassigned, September, 1862. 
* September 3-20, 1862 - The Maryland Campaign
** A Detachment moved to Greencastle, thence to Hagerstown, Md., September 6-15.
** Skirmish near Hagerstown September 12-13
** Hagerstown September 15
** Advance to Jones' Cross Roads September 16
** September 17, 1862 - Battle of Antietam, Maryland (scouting during battle)
Led advance of Pennsylvania Militia to Williamsport September 20-21. Regiment left State for Louisville, Ky., November 7, 1862, thence moved to Nashville, Tenn., December 8. Served unattached, Army Cumberland, to December, 1862. Reserve, Cavalry Brigade, Army Cumberland, to March, 1863. Unattached, Cavalry Corps, Army Cumberland, to June, 1863. Headquarters Army Cumberland to October, 1863. Unattached Cavalry, Dept. Cumberland, to May, 1864. Post and District of Nashville, Dept. Cumberland, to August, 1864. Unattached, Dept. Cumberland, to November, 1864. 3rd Brigade, 6th Division, Cavalry Corps, Military Division Mississippi, to March, 1865. 1st Brigade, Cavalry Division, District East Tennessee, Dept. Cumberland, to June, 1865.
SERVICE.--Skirmish on Hillsboro Pike, near Nashville, Tenn., December 25, 1862. Advance on Murfreesboro December 26-30. Nolensville December 26-27. Triune December 27. Wilkinson's Cross Roads December 29. Battle of Stone's River December 30-31, 1862, and January 1-3, 1863. Lavergne December 30, 1862. Scout to Woodbury January 4. 1863. Lytle's Creek January 5. At Murfreesboro until June. Scout to Woodbury April 4. Near Woodbury April 5-6. The Barrens April 7. (Cos. "B," "H" and "K" at Dept. Headquarters.) Middle Tennessee or Tullahoma Campaign June 22-July 7. Near Rover June 24. Winchester August 1.
* August 16-September 22, 1863 - The Chickamauga Campaign
** September 19-September 20, 1863 - Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia
Duty in Sequatchie Valley until November. Near Dunlap October 2. Sequatchie Valley October 26. March to relief of Knoxville November 28-December 8. Gatlinsburg December 10. Near Dandridge Mills December 13. Near Morristown December 14. Near Dandridge December 22-23. Dandridge December 24. Mossy Creek, Talbot Station, December 29. Scout from Dandridge to Clark's Ferry January 10-11, 1864. Schultz's Mill, Cosby Creek, January 14 (Detachment). Near Wilsonville January 22 (Detachment). Indian Creek January 28. Fair Garden January 28-29. Fain's Island January 28. Expedition from Marysville to Quallatown. N. C., January 31-February 7. Quallatown February. 5 Moved to Chattanooga, Tenn., arriving February 12. Demonstration on Dalton, Ga., February 22-27. Tunnel Hill, Buzzard's Roost Gap and Rocky Faced Ridge February 23-25. Scouting until May. Ordered to Nashville, Tenn., May 4, and duty there until September. Gillem's Expedition from East Tennessee toward Southwest Virginia September 20-October 17. Jonesboro and Watauga River September 29. Kingsport October 7. Rogersville October 8. Scouting about Chattanooga until December. Dalton December 13. Pursuit of Hood's forces and trains December 20, 1864, to January 6, 1865. Near Decatur, Ala., December 28. Pond Springs December 29. Near Leighton December 30. Russellville December 31. Nauvoo, Ala., January 2. Thorn Hill January 3. Near Mr. Hope January 5. Pursuit of Lyon January 13-16. Red Hill January 14. Warrenton January 15. Paint Rock January 26. Stoneman's Raid into Southwest Virginia and Western North Carolina March 21-April 25. Demonstration on Virginia & Tennessee Railroad to near Lynchburg, Va., March 26-April 6 (Detachment under Major Wagner). Yadkin River March 29. Boone, N. C., April 1. Hillsville and Wytheville, Va., April 3. New London, Va., April 8. Martinsville April 8. Near Greensboro April 11. Capture of Saulsbury April 12. Jamestown, N. C., April 19. Howard's Gap, Blue Ridge Mountains, April 22. Pursuit of Jeff Davis May. (A Detachment of Regiment was on duty at Headquarters Army Cumberland June 24, 1863, to December, 1864; participated in the Atlanta Campaign and Nashville Campaign.) Mustered out at Nashville, Tenn., June 21, 1865. Company "A" retained in service until July 18, 1865.
 
 
 1862
In the early part of August, 1862, William J. Palmer received authority from the Secretary of War to recruit a battalion of cavalry, which was subsequently extended to recruit a full regiment. Recruiting offices were opened in Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and other parts of the State, and before the end of the month, nearly a thousand men were in the camp of rendezvous at Carlisle, and mustered into the service of the United States. A company, known as the Anderson Troop, had been previously recruited by Captain Palmer, to serve as body guard to General Anderson. It was understood that the new regiment, which he was authorized to recruit, should be employed on similar duty. Accordingly, especial care was taken to obtain a select body, and in its ranks were young men from some of the wealthiest and most influential families in the Commonwealth. Officers of the Troop were placed in charge of the companies, and with the aid of officers from the Regular Cavalry stationed at Carlisle, the drill of the regiment was vigorously prosecuted.
Early in September, the enemy, fresh from his triumphs at Bull Run, began to cross the Potomac in force. The regiment was, accordingly, ordered to remain in the Cumberland Valley, and two hundred and fifty picked men, with three days' rations, and thirty-six rounds of ammunition per man, were ordered to the front. Proceeding by rail to Greencastle, parties were sent out in all directions to procure horses, the command as yet not having been mounted. One hundred and fifty were obtained, and all the roads leading from the south were picketed, the enemy being in strong force at Hagerstown. Skirmishing took place on the 12th and 13th, and the pickets were twice driven, but by keeping up a bold front, the enemy was prevented from following up, his advantage, supposing, no doubt, that the pickets were well supported. Indeed, General Longstreet, while in possession of Hagerstown, reported to General Lee, that "had he not found swarms of Yankee cavalry in his front, he would have advanced further into the State." The detachment really had no support nearer than Chambersburg, and on the 15th, the dismounted men were sent to that place. On the same day, learning that the enemy was leaving Hagerstown, the detachment was collected, and moving forward in a body, charged through the town, capturing thirty rebel stragglers. It then advanced to Jones' Cross Roads, on the Sharpsburg Pike, where it remained during the night in readiness for an attack, and during the 17th, while the battle of Antietam was in progress, was employed, in bringing up stragglers and scouting, losing one man killed. On the day following the battle, Captain Palmer, while within the enemy's lines in disguise, in the discharge of a dangerous and difficult duty by order of the commanding General, was taken prisoner and sent to Richmond, where, for several months, he endured the privations of rebel durance. On the 20th, the detachment led the advance of the Pennsylvania Militia, under General Reynolds, to Williamsport, and on the following day, the enemy having made good his escape, returned to Greencastle, delivering the horses to their owners, and thence to their camp at Carlisle.
Up to this time, none but temporary organizations had been made, the men relying on Captain Palmer to select officers of ability and experience to lead them, having, by the the terms of their enlistment, waived the right to choose their own officers. His capture, at this critical juncture, proved a great misfortune, as the command was left without a head, On the 1st of October, William Spencer, First Lieutenant of the Troop, was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel, Adolph G. Rosengarten, and Frank B. Ward, Majors, and the regiment was organized in ten companies. A full list of company officers was presented to the proper authorities for appointment, but only eleven of these were commissioned.
On the 7th of November, the regiment moved by rail to Louisville, Kentucky, where, upon its arrival, it went into camp, and was mounted. A month later it was ordered forward to Nashville, where the main army, now under command of General Rosecrans, was assembled. At this time, the command had seven field and staff officers, twelve line, and about two-thirds of its complement of non-commissioned officers. On the 25th, a detachment of two hundred and fifty men was sent out as guard to a foraging train, and while beyond the lines, on the Hillsboro Pike, was attacked, and one man killed; but the enemy was beaten back, and the laden train brought safely in.
The army was now upon the eve of advancing to meet Bragg, in the battle of Stone River. On the 26th, an order was issued for the regiment to advance with General Stanley's Division of Cavalry. Much dissatisfaction had prevailed previous to leaving Louisville, on account of the want of officers, and the lack of efficiency in the organization; but the men had determined to march to Nashville, and there lay their grievances before General Rosecrans, all appeals to Governor Curtin, and to the Secretary of War, having proved fruitless. Rosecrans was now busy with the movement of his forces, and could not be seen.
With only a single commissioned officer to the company, the command was really in no condition to move; but the order for it was peremptory. The officers, with about three hundred of the men, under the leadership of Majors Rosengarten and Ward, rendered prompt obedience. The remainder, to the number of about six hundred, stacked arms and refused to go. Stanley covered the right flank of the advancing army, and on the 27th came up with the enemy, when brisk skirmishing opened, and the enemy was driven back nearly five miles.
On the 29th, the command marched by a circuitous route to Wilkinson's Cross Roads, where it encountered a body of rebel cavalry. Deploying skirmishers, the enemy was driven a mile, when a charge was ordered, and was led by Majors Rosengarten and Ward. Gallantly the command went forward, but soon encountered the enemy's infantry in overpowering numbers. The struggle was maintained with desperate valor, and at close quarters, the men using their pistols and clubbing their carbines. At the height of the encounter, Major Rosengarten was killed, and Major Ward mortally wounded. The battalion was finally forced to retire. Major Ward, who had been helped to the rear, insisted upon another charge, though bleeding from several wounds. The attempt was made, but the command was again repulsed. The loss was thirteen killed, or mortally wounded, and sixty-nine wounded and missing.
The command now devolved on Captain Veziil, and with the First Tennessee Cavalry, it moved in pursuit of the enemy's horse, which had destroyed a Union wagon train. All night long the march continued, but without avail. On the afternoon of the 31st, it joined General Minty's Brigade in a charge on Wheeler's Cavalry, led by General Stanley in person, in which the enemy was driven in upon his supports. In this charge, Private Holt, of company H, captured and brought off the colors of the Tenth Tennessee (rebel) Cavalry, on which was inscribed: "Death before Subjugation." At night the command was advanced and deployed in line of skirmishers, where it remained until the morning of the New Year. The enemy, who had gained a signal advantage in the morning of the 31st, routing and driving back the right wing of Rtosecrans7 army, had been stopped and signally repulsed at evening. There was little more hard fighting, the enemy retreating rapidly on the 3d, and leaving the field in the hands of the Union army. On the morning of the 1st, the battalion, with the Third Ohio, was detakiled to guard a train on its way back to Nashville, and was twice attacked, losing four killed and three wounded.
In the meantime, General Mitchell, in command at Nashville, determined to compel the men who remained in camp, to go to the front, and accordingly sent General Morgan, on the 30th, to execute his purpose. Upon the offer of General Morgan to take them to General Rosecrans, they were soon in saddle, and all, save a detachment left in charge of' the camp and the sick, were upon the march, under command of Colonel Woods, of an Illinois regiment, who had been detailed by General Morgan to command them. At Lavergne, they were. stopped by a powerful body of the enemy's cavalry, under command of Wheeler. Unable to cope with him, Colonel Woods was compelled to fall back. Famishing with hunger, neither men nor horses having had regular supplies for many days, one hundred of the number went into camp six miles from Nashville, and on the following day made their way to the front, but the remainder returned to their old camp near the city, from which they refused again to move, and on the evening of the 31st, were sent by General Mitchell to the Workhouse. 
 
 
 1863
On the 20th of January, 1863, General Rosecrans sent them a proposition, that if they would return to duty, he would have them speedily re-organized and fully officered. As this was all that they were clamoring for, they accepted it.
On the 7th of February, Colonel Palmer returned from captivity, and resumed command, when everything began again to wear a cheerful aspect. Horses, and a full complement of equipments were received, and the regiment was organized in twelve companies, with the following field officers: William J. Palmer, Colonel; Charles B. Lamborn, Lieutenant Colonel. Much abuse was heaped upon the men who refused to march, and the wildest rumors prevailed concerning their motives.
The rebel organs throughout the South proclaimed that the Yankee soldiers at Nashville were laying down their arms by regiments, in consequence of the issue of the President's emancipation proclamation, whereas, it is probable that not a thought of this proclamation ever entered their counsels. Charges of cowardice, and disappointment at not being taken to duty at the headquarters of the commanding General were made, but the lack of organization, and of officers, and want of efficient leadership, seems to have been the simple and only cause of their conduct. While the unfortunate situation in which they were placed must ever be deplored, and their refusal to march condemned, the conduct of the men who followed the gallant Rosengarten and Ward, even under the most discouraging circumstances, and met death in the face of the foe, will never cease to be regarded with admiration and gratitude.
Active operations commenced soon after its re-organization. On the 4th of April, a detachment of three hundred, with infantry and artillery, all under command of General I. N. Palmer, scouted in the direction of Woodbury, the detachment having a brisk skirmish four miles beyond the town, and on the following day took some prisoners and released some Union conscripts near M'Minnville. On the 7th, it charged a body of the enemy near the Barrens, capturing eighteen of his men. Returning to camp near Murfreesboro, the regiment was reviewed on the 10th by General Rosecrans.
On the 24th of June, the army moved forward on the Chickamauga campaign, when companies B, H, and K, were detailed as escort to the General commanding, and the remainder of the regiment was employed for courier duty, between the right and left wings of the army, under Generals Cook, and Crittenden. The latter was required to obtain a knowledge of the topography of the country in advance of the army, requiring much activity. On the 24th, companies E, and L, while bearing dispatches to General Mitchell, at Rover, encountered a party of the enemy and dispersed it, killing two and capturing several, delivering the dispatches in safety. Again, on the 29th, nearly the entire regiment, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Lainborn, encountered a body of rebel cavalry north of Tullahoma, driving them in upon their intrenchments, and capturing fifteen. It soon after advanced with Thomas to Tulilahomna the enemy retreating.
About the middle of August, the army again moved forward, and until the opening of the battle of Chickamauga, the regiment was kept busy in scouting the country and preparing maps for the use of the General commanding.
During the first day of the battle, September 19th, the regiment was on duty at General Rosecrans' headquarters, guarding flank roads, watching the movements of the enemy, and carrying dispatches. When the right gave way on the second day, Colonel Palmer was ordered by General Rosecrans to form the regiment so as to stop stragglers. The line was formed near the foot of Mission Ridge, west of the Crawfish Road, and had stopped a larger number, when the regiment was ordered to the rear by General Sheridan, moving by the top of the ridge to the left.
Following the roar of the wagon trains and batteries to a point twelve miles south of Chattanooga, Colonel Palmer turned to the left, and formed his regiment across the valley, a mile south of where the trains debouched towards Chattanooga, and sent out scouting parties in the direction of Pond Spring, and Stevens' Gap. The smoke of Colonel Watkins' wagons, which the rebel cavalry was burning at Stevens' Gap, was here visible. Remaining until the cavalry of General Mitchell had come up, the regiment moved on with the rear of the train to Chattanooga. Company L, sent ten miles out on Lookout Mountain to watch the movements of the enemy, was cut off, but succeeded in making its way through his lines, and re-joining the regiment in Chattanooga.
Bragg closed in upon the army of Rosecrans, sending out his cavalry to operate upon his communications. The animals were soon reduced to a starving condition. Colonel Palmer was, accordingly, sent with his cavalry into the Sequatchie Valley, thirty miles away, and encamped on Robinson's Plantation, where corn and provisions were found in abundance, and from which supplies were sent to Chattanooga.
Soon after the battle of the 25th of November, which swept Bragg from his strongholds around the city, and gave light and life to the starving army of Thomas, Colonel Palmer was ordered to move to Kingston with his regiment, antd join Sherman, now on his way to Knoxville, to relieve the beleaguered army of Burnside. Sherman did not cross at Kingston, but kept up the left bank of the Tennessee, and Palmer, consequently, moved forward on the right bank, and was the first to report at Knoxville.
On the day following its arrival, General Burnside ordered it to Sevierville, to meet a body of the enemy, in part Indians, from North Carolina, under Colonel Thomas. Sending a squadron under Lieutenant Colonel Lamborn to demonstrate in front, Colonel Palmer led the main body, by night, across the mountains by a circuitous route, coming in upon the rear of the rebel force, and by a well concerted action, attacking at daylight in front and flank, completely routed it, wounding seven, and capturing two of the enemy, fifteen horses, and twenty stands of arms, and burning the camp. Captains Charles M. Betts, and George S. Clark, were among the wounded in the engagement. Captain M'Allister, with two companies, F, and G, was sent in pursuit of the fugitives, but failed to overtake them.
The regiment was now engaged in scouting on the left flank, and in rear of Longstreet's army, which was leisurely pursuing its way towards Virginia, extending along the French Broad River as far as Newport, having frequent skirmishes with the rebel cavalry, and capturing prisoners from whom important information was gained. On the night of the 23d of December, the command crossed the French Broad, and pushing up under cover of darkness, to the rear of the enemy's cavalry corps, captured a number of his pickets, thirteen horses, and twenty-six head of cattle, and brought theim safely into camp, though closely pursued.
On the 24th, the regiment participated in the battle of Dandridge, which was fought by the brigades of Sturgis and Elliott. After a sharp skirmish the enemy was driven, and in full retreat, but was timely reinforced by a brigade from Morristown, and was thus enabled to make a stand, before which the Union force was obliged t;o retire. In the fight, a spirited dash was made by Colonel Palmer, with ninety of his men, before whom the enemy fled in confusion; but returning, he was fired on by a party in concealment, and ten of his men were dismounted and fell into the hands of the foe. Captain Washington Airey was among these, and for fourteen months endured the hardships and privations of imprisonment, being finally released to die of disease contracted thereby. The entire loss was seventy-five in killed, wounded, and prisoners.
On the 29th, a sharp engagement occurred at Mossey Creek, and after a contest lasting six hours, the enemy was handsomely repulsed. Two spirited charges were made by tthe Fifteenth, gaining and holding an important position on the field, for which it was complimented by General Sturgis. It lost one officer, Lieutenant and Acting Adjutant, Harvey S. Lingle, killed, and five men wounded.
Longstreet having put his army in winter-quarters near Russellville, was sending his cavalry back to the rich corn-fields of the French Broad Valley, for supplies. The Fifteenth had become expert in scouting to ascertain the movements of the enemy, and to harass his foraging parties. It was, accordingly, posted at Dandridge, and charged especially with this duty. For two weeks it scouted the whole country on the enemy's flank, coming down upon him at the most unexpected moments, marching day and night, picking up prisoners, and gathering stock almost within the limits of rebel encampments.
 
 
 1864
On the 13th of January, 1864, while in camp opposite Dandridge, Colonel Palmer learned that Brigadier General Vance, with a force of three hundred cavalry and dismounted Indians, with two pieces of artillery, had advanced from North Carolina, and entered Sevierville, twelve miles in Colonel Palmer's rear, capturing twenty wagons loaded with wheat belonging to the army at Knoxville, and twenty prisoners. Though a brigade of rebel cavalry was in his front, threatening an attack, Colonel Palmer determined to go in pursuit of Vance. Accordingly, heading a party of one hundred and twenty-five men, and leaving his pickets out to deceive the enemy in his front, he started on his daring mission. On the way, he learned that Vance's forces had been divided, one party, including the Indians, going towards North Carolina, the other, headed by Vance himself, with the captured train, taking a back mountain road towards Newport. After a march of thirty miles, Palmer came up with the latter party at a point about eight miles from Newport, and by a bold charge with the sabre, captured the general, two of his staff officers, a lieutenant, fifty men, one hundred and fifty horses, the general's ambulance filled with captured medical stores, re-captured the entire wagon train and prisoners, and brought all back safely to Sevierville. For his gallantry in this affair, Colonel Palmer was strongly recommended by General Foster, in command at Knoxville, seconded by Generals Sturgis and Elliott, for promotion.
On the 24th, Colonel Palmer's command, temporarily reinforced by Colonel Brownlow's First Tennessee Cavalry, made an expedition into the enemy's foraging ground, near the mouth of the Big Pigeon River, and captured a train of eighteen wagons, ninety mules, and seventy-two of the enemy, including a captain, and three lieutenants, losing one man killed. The country around had become very familiar to the men of Colonel Palmer's command, and full reliance was placed in them for information by which the movements of heavy bodies of troops were guided. They were kept constantly upon the move. The plan of the considerable engagement at Fair Garden, on the 28th in which three steel guns, and one hundred prisoners were taken, was based upon information of the enemy's position and strength, furnished by scouting parties of the Fifteenth. On the following day, Colonel Palmer, by taking a flank trail in following the retreating rebels, discovered that they had been reinforced, and by timely warning to the main Union force, saved it from disaster.
The campaign having now ended, the regiment returned by easy marches to Chattanooga, where it arrived on the 11th of February, and was joined by a part of the regiment which had been left at the camp in Sequatchie Valley. During the three succeeding months the command was kept busy in scouting on the flank of the enemy holding position on Tunnel Hill, Buzzard's Roost, and Dalton. In reconnoissances to Lafayette, Summerville, Alpine and Lookout Valley, it gained important information, and captured some prisoners.
By the hard service during the fall and winter, the horses had become completely worn out, and on the 4th of May, as the army was about breaking camp for the spring campaign, the regiment. was ordered to Nashville, to remount and re-fit. It was August before the requisite horses, arms, and equipments were obtained, and the command was in readiness for the field. In the meantime, the men had been kept busy in drill and target practice. Captain Betts had been previously promoted to Major.
On the 8th of August, the regiment started for the front, but in consequence of the raid of Wheeler on Sherman's lines of supply, was stopped at Chattanooga, and scouted to Red Clay, Parker's Gap, and Spring Place, and upon the movement of Wheeler north, followed him in force, returning finally to Calhoun, where it was employed protecting the railroad.
On the 5th of September the regiment, about four hundred strong, was ordered to move north, to prevent the return of a force of Wheeler's cavalry, which had been cut off at M'Minnville, and was making its way under Dibberel to the Tennessee lRiver, below Kingston. It accordingly moved to Sevierville, the enemy keeping up on the opposite side of the river, and finally joining Vaughan near Bristol, Virginia. From Sevierville, the regiment marched to Bull's Gap, and joined General Gillem in a movement towards Virginia.
At Jonesboro, on the 3d of October, where the enemy was encountered, Colonel Palmer, who had the advance, was ordered to develop the enemy's strength and position. He accordingly charged the rebel rear-guard, driving it ten miles to the Wautauga River, killing one and capturing eight, where he found Duke in force. On the 4th and 5th there was some skirmishing. But Burbridge was now in the enemy's rear, and he retreated rapidly towards Abingdon. Gillem did not pursue, as Forest was raiding into Tennessee, but returned to Knoxville. Colonel Palmer was, however, permitted, at his own suggestion, to make diversion in favor of Burbridge, and advanced, via Bristol, to Kingsport.
Here a party of nine, with dispatches for Burbridge, who had withdrawn to Kentucky, was met. Taking seventy-five picked men, Colonel Palmer started to carry them through, and after five days severe marching, came up with Burbridge at Prestonburg, successfully eluding Prentiss' rebel cavalry, lying in wait for his captiure, and attacking one of Prentiss' scouting parties, killing a captain, and one man, and taking twelve prisoners and thirty horses.
In the meantime, the remainder of the regiment, under Lieutenant Colonel Lamborn, was attacked by Vaughan's forces, which had returned from Virginia. Lamborn held the ford of the North Fork of the Holston against Vaughan for one day, and at- night, having no supports, retired towards Bull's Gap, losing in the skirmish one man wounded. On the following day, while crossing a difficult ford of the main stream, he was again attacked by a large force. The command was in column, along the river bank, the enemy occupying a steep bluff commanding the ford, and the road which led to it, over which the column was advancing. A company was sent to the rear of the attacking party, which, coming upon the enemy unawares, made a sudden dash, capturing three officers and eight men, and so disconcerting the entire party, that it took to its heels, leaving the Union force, of only one hundred and twenty-five men, to cross and move unmolested to Bulls Gap. Upon their arrival in camp, General Gillem complimented them in an order, "' for their action at Rogervillo, October 7th, when in the face of a rebel force much larger than their own, they crossed the Holston River, capturing three rebel lieutenants, and eight enlisted men, with no loss."
After this, the main body of the regiment, and the detachment under Colonel Palmer, assembled in camp near Chattanooga, and for two months were engaged in scouting for a long distance on all sides, frequently meeting bands of the enemy. On the 20th of December, Colonel Palmer, with his own and detachments from other regiments, to the number of six hundred men, proceeded to Decatur, whence he pushed forward on the south bank of the Tennessee River, in pursuit of Hood's demoralized troops, now in full retreat from Tennessee, having been thoroughly defeated in the battle of Nashville, by Thomas.
Without attempting to give the details of this eminently successful expedition, its character may be judged by the following summary of results: The capture of two hundred prisoners, including two colonels, three captains, and eight lieutenants, and the destruction of seven hundred and fifty stands of arms; the capture on the night of December 28th, of two pieces of General Roddy's artillery, with horses and equipments; the capture and complete destruction on the 31st, of the entire pontoon bridge, having seventy eight boats, on which Hood crossed the Tennessee River, with two hundred wagons loaded with tools, ropes, engineering instruments, and supplies; the capture on the night of January 1st, 1865, of a supply train of Hood, of one hundred and ten wagons, while on its way from Benton Station to Tuscaloosa, and its complete destruction; the surprise and complete rout on the Tuscaloosa Road, below Moulton, of the rebel Colonel Russell's regiment of cavalry, Fourth Alabama, and the capture and destruction of his train, with the papers and baggage of the brigade; and the repeated defeat and rout of Roddy's forces, causing their disbandment.
The entire loss of the command was one man killed and two wounded. It successfully eluded largely superior forces of the enemy while on its return to Decatur, and brought all its captures safely in.
 
 
 1865
Upon its return, the command was ordered to Huntsville for rest, but on the night following its arrival, Colonel Palmer was directed to take all his available mounted men, and intercept the rebel General Lyon at Fort Deposit. Failing in this, Colonel Palmer crossed the river in pursuit, came up with Lyon on January 16th, surprised his camp before daylight, and routed his command, capturing his only piece of artillery, and ninety-six prisoners, which were brought off. Lyon himself was taken, but succeeded in making his escape, after shooting the sergeant who had him in charge-the only loss. Colonel Palmer led out another scouting party on the 27th, of one hundred and fifty men, in pursuit of a guerrilla band under Colonel Meade, infesting the Cumberland Mountains, returning on the 6th of February, with one captain, two lieutenants, and twenty-three men prisoners.
Before starting on the spring campaign, fresh horses were supplied, and the command was completely re-fitted for active service. General Stoneman was placed in command of the cavalry, and Colonel Palmer, who had been[ promoted to Brevet Brigadier General, was assigned to the command of the First Brigade of Gillem's Division, whereupon, Lieutenant Colonel Betts, who had been promoted from Major, took command of the regiment. Towards the close of March, Stoneman started on an important expedition towards North Carolina. On the 29th he reached Wilkesboro, on the YC-dkin River, where he had a skirmish. Ho here received intelligence which determined him to turn north, towards the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, which he fell to destroying, the Fifteenth being actively employed in this work. From this point, Major Wagner, with four companies, made a demonstration to within sight of Lynclhburg, Virginia, destroying two important railroad bridges. He re-joined the command, after an absence of ten days,, near Salisbury, North Carolina, having sustained a loss of one killed, and eight wounded and captured.
On the 19th of April, a detachment of the regiment, under Major Garner, destroyed a railroad bridge ten miles north of Greensboro, North Carolina, after a brisk skirmish with the guard. At the same time, Lieutenant Colonel Betts, with ninety men, surprised the camp of the Third South Carolina Cavalry, near Greensboro, and charged upon it, capturing the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Johnson, four of his officers, and fortyfour men with their horses, regimental wagons, and camp equipage. On the following day, a detachment under Captain Kramer met and defeated a superior force of the enemy at Jamestown, destroying the depot and a truss-covered bridge at Deep River. On the 12th, Salisbury, North Carolina, was captured, and immense rebel stores destroyed, when the command turned towards Knoxville.
Towards the close of April, intelligence of the surrender of Lee and Johnston having been received, the division of General Gillem, now commanded by General Palmer, was ordered to proceed south for the capture of Jefferson Davis and train. Night and day, with the most untiring energy and skill, the pursuit was pushed.
On the 8th of May, seven wagons, containing the effects of the banks of Macon, were captured. " On the morning of the 8th inst.," says General Palmer in his official report., "while searching for Davis near the fork of the Appalachee and Oconee Livers, Colonel Betts, Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, captured seven wagons in the woods, which contained one hundred and eighty-eight thousand dollars in coin, one million five hundred and eighty-eight thousand dollars in bank notes, bonds, and securities, and about four millions of Confederate money, besides considerable specie, plate, and other valuables belonging to private citizens of Macon. The wagons contained also the private baggage, maps and official papers of Generals Beauregard and Pillow. Nothing was disturbed, and I send the whole in by railroad to Augusta, to the commanding officer of the United States forces, to await the action of the government."
Two days after, company G, Captain Samuel Phillips, captured General Bragg, his wife, staff officers, and three wagons, which were sent under guard to the headquarters of General Wilson. On the 15th, news was received of the capture of Davis and party by Colonel Pritchard, of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry, detachments from Colonel Betts' command being close upon his trail. The regiment now started northward, and on the 12th of June arrived at Nashville, where, on the 21st, it was mustered out of service.
 
 
 Other
The Fifteenth at General Joe Johnston's Surrender
A Memoir of Arthur O. Granger, Company C
Cartersville, Ga. 
The Stone River campaign during the last days of 1862 and the first of 1863 was a severe strain on me. I was in my seventeenth year at that time and lack of the knowledge to properly prepare my food was the cause of my being sent to the hospital to be treated for typhoid fever and some other complaints. Improperly prepared food caused more deaths than rebel bullets and in the Fifteenth, which was made up of young men, principally, the death rate from this cause was very great.
I was a very sick boy when I was sent to Hospital No.1, at Murfreesboro. There were six of us, all desperately ill, in a small second story room, facing the square. The door to the hall was kept open for ventilation. It was a common thing to see the nurses carrying out the poor fellows who had died. They were simply wrapped in a blanket, thrown over the shoulders, with feet dangling down in front, and head behind and taken to the dead house. Even in these duties the usual care of seeing the patients were really dead was not always done, for in one of our hospitals a soldier was carried out and put in the dead room and a few hours after another was taken down and the astonished burden bearer found the one he had carried down before, sitting up and asking for his medicine. I was here six weeks before I could walk around the hall and soon after, thinking I had more strength than I really had, I started to go down stairs and out to the square in front, but the little strength I had was all gone by the time I got to the foot of the stairs and I had to sit down and rest before I could crawl back to my bunk again. This "bedstead" was made of rough boards, the size of a cot. The slats ran crosswise and were several inches apart and a single folded blanket was the mattress. Our clothes were our pillows.
I was the only one of my regiment in this hospital. Back in Nashville there had been a large detachment of unfortunates, who were in the hospitals there, but these were coming back to the regiment. Now that warmer weather had set in and the boys in camp were recovering their old spirits under the influence of the change that was taking place. The regiment was then just outside of Murfreesboro reorganizing, drilling, and doing some scout duty in which they met with good success. By the time I was fit to take my old place in its ranks, the hospital authorities discovered that I wrote a good, legible hand and detailed me for light duty of a clerical character, and when my regiment started off on the Tullahoma Campaign, I was the Chief clerk in the hospital. I filled this position for about a year till David F. How, my messmate in Company "E," received an appointment as First Lieutenant in the Tenth Missouri and was appointed on the staff of General Elliot, commanding the cavalry. He got me detailed at once as clerk at Cavalry Headquarters. Before I commenced my duties there a telegraphic order was received for me to report to General Sherman's Headquarters and I at once started for Kingston, Ga. It was only a few days after I arrived at Sherman's Headquarters that we started from Atlanta, on November 16, 1864, on his march to the sea. Several of the Anderson Cavalry were along but my duties were such that I was not thrown in contact with them. J. Geo. Henvis, of Company H, was one. Part of the time we rode a mule and may have played an important part. John Walter, of Company K, was another. At the battle of Resaca he so distinguished himself in carrying dispatches on our fourteen mile line of battle, as to meet the commendation of General Sherman who personally asked him to be his private orderly and we remained in that position till July, 1865, when he was discharged. It was Walter who took the verbal order, from General Sherman to General John A. Logan, to take charge of General McPherson's corps after that General had been killed in battle.
A staff officer generally does work of that kind but just then time was an important object. It was a question of minutes and Sherman took the best he had for a messenger. This march of Sherman's was no haphazard affair but had been carefully planned long before it was carried out. The General had posted himself as to the agricultural products and in his marches he avoided those in which cotton predominated. Corn, sweet potatoes, and pork were what he wanted, as only a small supply of provisions were in the wagons. No sooner had we started than the darkies came flocking to our camps and while many made themselves useful, as cooks, servants and teamsters, their numbers became great before we reached Savannah as to become a nuisance. Three or four days after we started, our chief signal officer, Capt. Becktel, sent up several rockets to let the other corps know where General Sherman was. The rockets were large and the best made and made a fine display. But most of our darkies had never seen any and instead of enjoying the sight, it filled them with the utmost terror. Our cook was washing dishes at the time but dropped everything and ran for the bushes, others hid in wagons and tremulously asked "what them things were? Even the mules and horses were frightened and it would not have taken much more to have gotten up a stampede.
It was not until after we reached Savannah that I was made confidential clerk to the General. This was a most interesting position to occupy, for I was behind the scenes as it were, and knew all the movements of our army and what General Sherman expected to accomplish by the various marches of the different corps of this army, separated as they were by long distances. General Sherman was exceedingly kind and considerate to those with him and while at all times he was the superior officer, he had a flattering manner of saying nice things to you in such a way as endeared him to you. He always had a good opinion of our Regiment but the official dispatch, which we received on Jan. 21st, 1865 telling of our capture of General Hood's pontoon and wagon train, raised us still higher in his estimation. He talked to John Walter about the regiment and said "it was the best one in his department; they can ride faster, do more hard fighting and capture more wagon trains than any regiment in my command." On the march to the sea he slept on a cot but on the Carolina campaign, baggage was reduced to a minimum and there were no cots or such luxuries. There was one large tent at Headquarters for an office and that is where I slept. The records were kept in a stout chest, with folding legs and two lids, which, when opened out, made two writing tables. I have more than once wakened up at night, to find the General sitting in his night clothes at the desk, on a camp stool stretched across my feet, poring over a map by the light of a candle. Often I asked him "Can I do anything for you, General?" and his usual reply was "No, go to sleep, Granger. You need all the rest you can get." I have frequently looked out of the office tent, during the night, and seen General Sherman walking up and down in front of the camp fire, bareheaded, in his red drawers and slippers, and always smoking. The anxiety of the campaign and the great responsibility kept him from sleeping. I do not think that, on our marches, he averaged more than four hours sleep per night. He was always the last to go to bed and first to be up in the morning, and most any time in the night could be found either in the tent or at the camp fire.
In preparing orders for the next day's march, the General would study over his maps and draft out the distances to be traveled and the line of march for the two wings of the army under Howard and Slocum. I would then write out an order addressed to each of these Generals, to be signed by Colonel Dayton, Asst. Adjutant General and couriers would be dispatched with them. These orders would go down to army corps, division, brigade and regimental commanders, often not reaching the latter till long after midnight.
At Columbia, S.C. the contingent of Anderson Cavalrymen, in Sherman's army, was increased by the arrival of Joe Rue, who was a member of my old company in the regiment. Joe had been captured over a year ago, in East Tennessee, but had escaped and hid in Columbia just before our army reached there, as he had nothing to eat for several days, was overjoyed to be with friends again.
On March 15, the rebel General Rhett was captured by Sergeant Jos. W. Range, and four men of the Tenth Ohio Cavalry. This regiment had been with us in Sequatchie Valley and in the winter campaign in East Tennessee, so our feeling for them was a tender one. Range and his men were "Bummers" out for forage and scouting, when they heard the sound of firing not for off and curiosity impelled them to get nearer to see what was going on. Range's squad were dressed in an odd fashion. Only one had a complete U.S. uniform while the Sergeant had on a suit of black broadcloth, which he had picked up a day or two before. The others had the look of Confederate soldiers. As they drew near to the firing, they saw a line of rebel skirmishers engaged with skirmishers from Kilpatrick's cavalry. Back of them was the rebel line of battle. Two officers were riding at a walk from the skirmishers to the line of battle and Range said quietly to his men "Let's get them." Riding slowly, at a walk, his party intercepted the officers and gave the military salute when they met, but quietly got around the two, suddenly covered them with their revolvers, seized the bridle reins and passed them over the heads of the captured horses and galloped off with their prisoners, General Rhett and his Adjutant General. This was the general's first and last battle. He had been one of those fiery orators that had done yeoman service in bringing on the war but had kept out of harm's way. He had been "invincible in peace and invisible in war."
It was not till the 15th of April, after we had received the news of Lee's surrender, that General Joe Johnston, in our front, gave any indications that the time had come for this army to quit too. At that date a dispatch came from him, through General Kilpatrick, asking for a cessation of hostilities and a personal interview, which was arranged to take place near Durham Station on the 17th.General Sherman took his staff officers and three or four orderlies, among who was John Walter. I was the only clerk along. At General Kilpatrick's Headquarters, horses were furnished us and we rode through our lines with a flag of truce at the head of the column. General Johnston was met about four miles out from Durham Station, riding along the road with a portion of his staff and also flying a flag of truce. The two Generals shook hands with each other and rode back to the house of a Mr. Bennett, where they went into a room by themselves and talked for an hour.
Our men mingled with the rebel cavalry. They were pretty bitter and the officers haughty. The Generals arrived at no conclusion that day, as General Johnston wanted to see Secretary of War Breckenridge, again and obtain authority to include all Confederate armies in the surrender. I had good opportunity to observe Generals Johnston and Wade Hampton. They were both in full dress uniforms of gray cloth. Johnston is a full General and his badge of rank is three stars in a row, on each end of his coat collar. The stars are supposed to be silver and the outside ones are half encircled by a wreath of gold.
The next day the two Generals met again at the same place. Soon after General Johnston sent one of his staff officers back to his lines for Mr. Breckenridge, the rebel Secretary of War, Major General C.S.A., and ex-Vice President of the United States. I recognized him at once from photographs I had seen. He is a good specimen of a real Southerner. His clothes looked rather seedy but he was haughty and his manner was proud. General Sherman would only consent to see him in his character of a General officer and would not recognize him as Secretary of War. The conference lasted several hours and Breckenridge returned to the rebel lines. Terms were finally agreed upon and Sherman appeared at the doorway, bareheaded, calling "Granger." I quickly responded. He introduced me to General Johnston and told me to make two copies of the agreement and while I wrote the two commanders talked interestingly and I did so wish that I could have listened to them. The agreements being finished, they were signed by both, first by General Sherman and then by General Johnston, after which both parties returned to their respective armies and for us to wait until the agreement could be ratified by the authorities at Washington.
The Confederacy was now fast breaking up. The rebels had some hope till Lee surrendered but since that event deserters from their cause were flocking to our lines, while many of those still in arms have started a promiscuous pillage of their own people. A few days since, the Mayor of Louisburg, N.C., sent in some of the members of his council and formally surrendered that place to General Sherman and at the same time asked for a guard to protect them from rebel cavalry. On April 24, Lieutenant General Grant arrived at our Headquarters. I heard him tell Sherman that Lee had surrendered over 26,000 men; that their killed and wounded were upwards of 20,000 and that he had captured in battle some 23,000 and also said that his loss was not over 15,000 killed, wounded and missing. General Grant's special mission was to report that the agreement for the surrender of Johnston's army was repudiated by the Washington authorities. General Sherman at once notified the rebel commander and demanded the surrender of the army on the same terms as were granted General Lee by General Grant.
On April 26th Sherman & Johnston again met at Mr. Bennett's house and the surrender of his army was consummated. We had to wait for General Johnston but as soon as he arrived the two Generals went in together and, after consulting for an hour, General Schofield was called in and at the dictation of General Sherman drew up the terms of capitulation, which were the same as Grant had given General Lee. After General Sherman had written the terms and they had been read to the two chiefs, General Sherman called for me and directed that I make two copies, one for General Johnston and the other for himself. Each copy was signed by the two Generals and my share of the surrender was the pen and holder and inkstand, which I still possess. I tried to purchase from Mr. Bennett the table cover on which the writing was done but the old fellow could not be induced to part with it.
The total of officers and men surrendered was over 89,000 and at the consummation of this great event, the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry had a greater representation than any volunteer regiment in the service, for John Walker, of Company K, stood just outside he door, while I was inside writing the official copy.
(Blair Graybill has kindly granted permission to use this memoir on this web page. Requests to use this memoir for other purposes should be directed to him.)
 
 
</div>
== Regimental Roster ==
 
 
 Field and Staff Officers
 
 
 Company A
 
 
 Company B
 
 
 Company C
 
 
 Company D
 
 
 Company E
 
 
 Company F
 
 
 Company G
 
 
 Company H
 
 
 Company I
 
 
 Company K
 
 
 Company L
 
 
 Company M
 
 
 Unassigned
</div>
== Regiment Statistical Information ==
* Regiment lost during service 3 Officers, and 22 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 103 Enlisted men by disease. Total 128.
== Legacy ==
* The following pertinent personal papers are in the Institute's Manuscript Archive:
** Anderson-Capehart-McGowan Family Papers - CWMiscColl (Enlisted men and officer's letters, Mar 8, l863-Jan 23, l865)
** Antes, Frederic - CWMiscColl (Corporal and sergeant's published diary, Sep 8, l864-Jul 8, l865)
** Bourke, John G. Papers (Descendant's transcribed interview concerning enlisted man and officer's service, l863-65)
** Breckinridge, George A. - CWTIColl (Enlisted man's letters, Mar l6, l863-May 30, l864)
** Caldwell, John - SwordColl (Quartermaster Sergeant's letters and papers, Feb 12-Nov l5, l864)
** Hersh, Paul - CWMiscColl (Sergeant's transcribed letters, Oct l2, l862-May 25, l865) 
** Lancaster, Thomas - CWMiscColl (Enlisted man's transcribed letter, Jan 4, l863)
** Lloyd,Harvey - HattieBurleighPapers (Officer's letters, Jun l, l864, Jun 20, l864
** Morton, Annesley N. - CWMiscColl (Officer's letters, Sep 2, l862-Jan 3, l865)
** Palmer, William J. Papers (General officer's service, l86l-l865)
** Pennsylvania l5th Cavalry Regimental Papers - CarlisleBarracks Coll (Unknown soldier's diary, Aug l2-Sep 6, l862)
** Ramsey, Theodore - CWMiscColl (Quartermaster Sergeant and officer's letters, May 14, 1863-May 29, l865)
** Rasor, David - CWTIColl (Enlisted man's letters and papers, Jul 3l, l863; Mar 11, l864; Aug 25, l865)
** Weller, Charles - CWTIColl (Enlisted man's published letters and memoir, Jul 7, l862-Sep 12,?)
* Medal of Honor Recipients
** EVERETT W. ANDERSON
*** Sergeant, Company M, 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Birth: Louisiana.
*** Citation: At Crosbys Creek, Tenn., 14 January 1864, captured, single-handed, Confederate Brig. Gen. Robert B. Vance during a charge upon the enemy.
*** Date of issue: 3 December 1894.
** CHARLES M. BETTS
*** Lieutenant Colonel, 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Birth: Bucks County, Pa.
*** Citation: . With a force of but 75 men, while on a scouting expedition, by a judicious disposition of his men, surprised and captured an entire battalion of the enemy's cavalry at Greensboro, N.C., 19 April 1865.
*** Date of issue: 10 October 1892
** JOHN G. BOURKE
*** Private, Company E, 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry. . Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Birth: Philadelphia, Pa.
*** Citation: At Stone River, Tenn., 31 December 1862-1 January 1863, gallantry in action.
*** Date of Issue: 16 November 1887.
** WILLIAM J. PALMER
*** Colonel, 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Entered service at. Philadelphia, Pa. Born. 16 September 1836, Leipsic, Kent County, Del.
*** Citation: With less than 200 men, attacked and defeated a superior force of the enemy, capturing their fieldpiece and about 100 prisoners without losing a man. At Red Hill, Ala., 14 January 1865.
*** Date of Issue: 24 February 1894.
** ANTHONY TAYLOR
*** First Lieutenant, Company A, 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Born: 11 October 1837, Burlington, N.J.
*** Citation: Held out to the last with a small force against the advance of superior numbers of the enemy at Chickamauga, Ga., 20 September 1863..
*** Date of Issue: 4 December 1893.
** JOHN TWEEDALE
*** Private, Company B, 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Born: 10 June 1841, Frankford, Pa.
*** Citation: Gallantry in action at Stone River, Tenn., 31 December 1862 -1 January 1863.
*** Date of Issue: 18 November 1887. 
== Notes ==
== Sources == 
* (Pages 902-949)
* (Pages 701, 761, 860, 1565)
* Granger, Arthur O. "A Witness to History: An Account of General Johnston's Surrender." CW Times Illus (Apr 1985): pp. 40-41 (2 photocopied pages). Per.
* Houston, J. H. Letters Home, Sep. 17, 1862 - Feb. 21, 1865 From Pvt. James Hervey Houston, Co. C, Anderson Cavalry, Headquarters Dept. and Army of the Cumberland. [Comp. By James H. Houston, Jr.] n.p., 1997. 13 p. E601H834.
* Kirk, Charles H. History of the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, Which was Recruited and Known as the Anderson Cavalry in the Rebellion ofl86l-l865. Phila: n.p., 1906. 784 p. E527.6.l5th.K57.
* In Memoriam, Major William Harrison Lambert, 1842-1912: Memorial Service in the Second Presbyterian Church, Germantown.... Phila: n.p., 1912. 36 p. (18 photocopied pages). E467.lL38M45.
* Nash-Cosgrove, Lori. "The Diary of Capt. Edward Sellers, 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry." North South Trader's Civil War Vol. 32, No. 1 (1006): pp. 20-28 (9 photocopied pages). Per.
* Palmer, William J. Letters, l853-l868. Phila: Ketterlinus, 1906. 128 p. E467.1P24A4.
* Pennsylvania. 15th Cav Regt. A Short Account of the AnnualBanquet...1894-1903. Various publishers, 1894-1903. E527.6.15th.P46.1894-1903.
* _____. A Short Account of the 28th Annual Banquet...December 6, 1900. Phila: n.p., 1900. 61 p. (29 photocopied pages). E527.6.15th.P48.
* _____. Chickamauga and Chattanooga Battlefield Comm. Pennsylvania at Chickamauga and Chattanooga: Ceremonies at the Dedication of the Monuments.... Hbg, PA: W S Ray, 1900. pp. 341-66 (16 photocopied pages). E475.81P4. (Addresses delivered at the dedication of the regimental monument at Chickamauga).
* Sauers, Richard A. Advance the Colors!: Pennsylvania CivilWar Battle Flags. Vol. 2. Hbg, PA: Capitol Preservation Comm, 1991. . pp. 465-66 (2 photocopied pages).E527.4S38.1991v2. (Brief unit history with emphasis on the regimental flags).
* Stabler, James B., ed. Thy Affectionate Son...: ACollection of Letters of Three Brothers: John Palmer, William T. Palmer, and Edward L. Palmer From the 1860s. Colorado Springs, CO:By the Editor, 1993. 96 p. E527.9A43.
* Storey, Brit A. The Mutiny of the Fifteenth Cavalry, 1862-1863. Alamosa, CO:Adams Coll,1973. 22 p. E527.6.l5th.S753.
* Taylor, Frank H. Philadelphia in the Civil War. Phila: By the City, 1913. pp. 175-78 (3 photocopied pages). E527.97P54T39. (Brief historyof the unit).
* Williams, John A. Leaves From a Trooper's Diary. Phila: Bell Printer, l869. 103p. E527.6.l5th.W54.
* Wilson, Suzanne. Column South: With the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry from Antietam to the Capture of Jefferson Davis. Flagstaff, AZ:J. F. Colton, 1960. 389 p. E60lC64.
* The Institute's Photo Archive includes images of individuals of this unit.
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