The Battle of Fort Stedman, also known as the Battle of Hare's Hill, was fought on March 25, 1865, during the final weeks of the American Civil War. The Union Army fortification in the siege lines around Petersburg, Virginia, was attacked in a pre-dawn Confederate assault by troops led by Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon. The attack was the last serious attempt by Confederate troops to break the Siege of Petersburg. After an initial success, Gordon's men were driven back by Union troops of the IX Corps commanded by Maj. Gen. John G. Parke.
John Frederick Hartranft was an American military officer who read the death warrant to the individuals who were executed on July 7, 1865, for conspiring to assassinate American President Abraham Lincoln. Previously having achieved the rank of major general of the Union Army during the American Civil War, he had also been awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor for his actions in the First Battle of Bull Run.
IX Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War that distinguished itself in combat in multiple theaters: the Carolinas, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
The Third Battle of Petersburg, also known as the Breakthrough at Petersburg or the Fall of Petersburg, was fought on April 2, 1865, south and southwest Virginia in the area of Petersburg, Virginia, at the end of the 292-day Richmond–Petersburg Campaign and in the beginning stage of the Appomattox Campaign near the conclusion of the American Civil War. The Union Army under the overall command of General-in-Chief Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, launched an assault on General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's Petersburg, Virginia trenches and fortifications after the Union victory at the Battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865. As a result of that battle the Confederate right flank and rear were exposed. The remaining supply lines were cut and the Confederate defenders were reduced by over 10,000 men killed, wounded, taken prisoner or in flight.
The Appomattox campaign was a series of American Civil War battles fought March 29 – April 9, 1865, in Virginia that concluded with the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia to forces of the Union Army under the overall command of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, marking the effective end of the war.
The 205th Pennsylvania Infantry was an infantry regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was raised during the final war year in response to President Lincoln's call for 500,000 volunteers. The regiment joined the IX Corps to counter General Lee's final offensive thrust at Ford Stedman and attacked to break through the Petersburg defenses one week before his final surrender at Appomattox. It participated in the Grand Review of the Armies and was mustered out in June 1865.
John Lilley was a United States soldier who was recognized with his nation's highest award for valor, the U.S. Medal of Honor, for his gallantry during the American Civil War. While fighting with Company F of the 205th Pennsylvania Infantry as part of the Union Army engaged in the Third Battle of Petersburg, Virginia on April 2, 1865, he captured the flag of the Confederate States Army by single-handedly rushing, and forcing the surrender of, that army's color-bearer, along with several additional CSA soldiers.
The 141st Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was a volunteer infantry regiment that fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment served in the Army of the Potomac in the Eastern Theater and was heavily engaged in the second day of fighting at the Peach Orchard outside of Gettysburg.
George W. Harris was a United States soldier who fought with the Union Army during the American Civil War as a private with Company B of the 148th Pennsylvania Infantry, a regiment which "was present in every battle of the Army of the Potomac from Chancellorsville to the surrender at Appomattox and was in the hottest fighting of all of them except the Wilderness".
The 29th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union army of the United States during the American Civil War. The regiment was organized in December 1861 when three new companies were attached to a battalion of seven Massachusetts companies that had been in active service since May 1861. These seven companies had been recruited to fill out the 3rd Massachusetts and 4th Massachusetts regiments and had signed on for three years of service. When the 3rd and 4th Massachusetts were mustered out in July 1861, the seven companies that had signed on for three years were grouped together to form a battalion known as the Massachusetts Battalion. Finally, in December 1861, three more companies were added to their roster to form a full regiment and the unit was designated the 29th Massachusetts.
Peter Hollingshead Allabach was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 75th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was a unit of the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was composed almost entirely of German-speaking residents of Philadelphia and newly arrived German immigrants. Total enrollment, over the course of the war, was 1,293 officers and men. The 75th Pennsylvania participated in several major battles including Second Bull Run, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. The regiment was transferred to the Western Theater in September, 1863. There, it participated in operations in Tennessee, before it was mustered out of service on September 1, 1865, following the close of the war.
Thomas William Hoffman was an American soldier who fought with the Union Army as a member of the 208th Pennsylvania Infantry during the American Civil War. He was recognized with his nation's highest military honor, the U.S. Medal of Honor, for his display of "extraordinary heroism" when preventing the retreat of a regiment during the Third Battle of Petersburg, Virginia on April 2, 1865. That award was conferred on July 19, 1895.
The 4th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, officially known as the 4th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, was an infantry regiment of the Union Army in the American Civil War. Formed mostly from a militia unit in Norristown in southeastern Pennsylvania, the regiment enlisted at the beginning of the American Civil War in April 1861 for a three-month period of service under the command of Colonel John F. Hartranft. Logistical difficulties bedeviled the regiment, which served as part of the garrison of Washington, D.C., until late June, when it was sent into Northern Virginia to join in the army of Brigadier General Irvin McDowell.
The 93rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 100th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 51st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 41st United States Colored Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was composed almost entirely of African American enlisted men and commanded by white officers. The regiment was authorized by the Bureau of Colored Troops which was created by the United States War Department on May 22, 1863. The regiment engaged in the Siege of Petersburg and Appomattox Campaign and was present at the unconditional surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.
The 211th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment of the Union Army in the American Civil War. Raised in western Pennsylvania in September 1864, the regiment initially served with the Army of the James during the Siege of Petersburg, holding trenches at Bermuda Hundred. In late November it transferred to the Army of the Potomac and during the northern hemisphere spring campaign fought in the counterattack during the Battle of Fort Stedman and the Union breakthrough at Petersburg. During the last days of the Appomattox Campaign it guarded trains, and participated in the Grand Review of the Armies following the end of the war before mustering out.
The 199th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, alternately known as the Commercial Regiment, was an infantry regiment of the Union Army in the American Civil War. Raised in Philadelphia in late 1864, the regiment enlisted for one year and was sent to the Army of the James during the Siege of Petersburg. During the Third Battle of Petersburg it assaulted Forts Gregg and Alexander, then pursued the retreating Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, fighting at Rice's Station and Appomattox Court House. Following the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, the regiment moved to Richmond, where it mustered out in late June 1865.
