124th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment

124th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry
	Battle flag of the 124th Pennsylvania Infantry
Active	August 1862 - May 16, 1863
Country	United States
Allegiance	Union
Branch	Infantry
Engagements	Battle of Antietam ; Battle of Chancellorsville

Last updated August 15, 2019

The 124th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Infantry military service branch that specializes in combat by individuals on foot

Infantry is a military specialization that engages in military combat on foot, distinguished from cavalry, artillery, and tank forces. Also known as foot soldiers or infanteers, infantry traditionally relies on moving by foot between combats as well, but may also use mounts, military vehicles, or other transport. Infantry make up a large portion of all armed forces in most nations, and typically bear the largest brunt in warfare, as measured by casualties, deprivation, or physical and psychological stress.

A regiment is a military unit. Their role and size varies markedly, depending on the country and the arm of service.

During the American Civil War, the Union Army referred to the United States Army, the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. Also known as the Federal Army, it proved essential to the preservation of the United States as a working, viable republic.

Service

The 124th Pennsylvania Infantry was organized at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and mustered in August 1862 for nine month's service under the command of Colonel Joseph W. Hawley.

Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 49,229, it is the 15th largest city in the Commonwealth. It lies on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, 107 miles (172 km) west of Philadelphia. Harrisburg is the anchor of the Susquehanna Valley metropolitan area, which had a 2018 estimated population of 574,659, making it the fourth most populous in Pennsylvania and 96th most populous in the United States.

Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the northeastern, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle. The Commonwealth is bordered by Delaware to the southeast, Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, Lake Erie and the Canadian province of Ontario to the northwest, New York to the north, and New Jersey to the east.

In the United States Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force, colonel is the most senior field grade military officer rank, immediately above the rank of lieutenant colonel and immediately below the rank of brigadier general. It is equivalent to the naval rank of captain in the other uniformed services. The pay grade for colonel is O-6.

The regiment was attached to 1st Brigade, 1st Division, XII Corps, Army of the Potomac, to October 1862. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XII Corps, to January 1863. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, XII Corps, to May 1863.

The XII Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War.

The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in May 1865 following the surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in April.

The 124th Pennsylvania Infantry mustered out May 16, 1863 at Harrisburg.

Detailed service

Left Pennsylvania for Washington, D.C., August 12. Camp near Fort Albany, defenses of Washington, until September 7. March to Rockville, Md. Maryland Campaign September 7-24. Battle of Antietam September 16-17. Burying dead September 18. March to Pleasant Valley, Md., September 19-20. At Maryland Heights until October 30. At Loudon Heights until November 8. Reconnaissance up the Shenandoah Valley November 8-19. Near Harpers Ferry until December 10. March to Fredericksburg, Va., December 10-15; then to Fairfax Station. Burnside's 2nd Campaign, "Mud March," January 20-24, 1863. At Stafford Court House until April 27. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6. Battle of Chancellorsville May 1-5. Ordered to Harrisburg, Pa. for muster out.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 54 men during service; 1 officer and 17 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 36 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

Colonel Joseph W. Hawley
Lieutenant Colonel Simon Litzenberg - commanded at the Battle of Chancellorsville
Major Isaac Lawrence Haldeman - commanded at the Battle of Antietam after Col. Hawley was wounded in action

In the United States Army, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Air Force, a lieutenant colonel is a field-grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.

In the United States Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force, major is a field grade military officer rank above the rank of captain and below the rank of lieutenant colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of lieutenant commander in the other uniformed services. Although lieutenant commanders are considered junior officers by their respective services, the rank of major is considered field grade in the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps.

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References

Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908.
Green, Robert McCay. History of the One Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion--1862-1863 (Philadelphia, PA: Ware Bros. Company, Printers), 1907.

Attribution

This article contains text from a text now in the public domain : Dyer, Frederick H. (1908). A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Des Moines, IA: Dyer Publishing Co.

The public domain consists of all the creative works to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable.

Frederick Henry Dyer served as a drummer boy in the Union Army during the American Civil War. After the war, he wrote A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion – a complete record of every regiment formed under the Union Army, their histories, and the battles they fought in – taking forty years to compile.

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