The 81st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

that served in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Service

The 81st Pennsylvania Infantry was organized at

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, for a three-month enlistment beginning August 6, 1861, and continuing through October 27, 1861, under the command of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

James Miller. The regiment was attached to Howard's Brigade, Richardson's Division,

Army of the Potomac 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 June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

, to March 1862. 1st Brigade, 1st Division,

II Corps 2nd Corps, Second Corps, or II Corps may refer to: France * 2nd Army Corps (France) * II Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * II Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French ...

, Army of the Potomac, to June 1865. The 81st Pennsylvania Infantry mustered out of service on June 29, 1865.

Detailed service

At Easton, Pa., until October 10. Moved to Washington, D.C., October 10. Duty in the defenses of Washington, D.C., until March 1862. Advance on Manassas, Va., March 10–15. Reconnaissance to Gainesville March 20. Operations on Orange & Alexandria Railroad March 28–31. Ordered to the Virginia Peninsula. Siege of Yorktown April 5-May 4. Construction of Grape Vine Bridge on Chickahominy May 28–30. Battle of Seven Pines May 31-June 1. Fair Oaks June 18. Fair Oaks Station June 21. Seven days before Richmond June 25-July 1. Orchard Station June 28. Peach Orchard, Allen's Farm, June 29. Savage Station June 29. White Oak Swamp Bridge, and Glendale June 30. Malvern Hill July 1. At Harrison's Landing until August 16. Movement to Fortress Monroe, then to Alexandria and Centreville August 16–30. Centreville September 1. Maryland Campaign September 6–24. Battle of Antietam, September 16–17. Moved to Harper's Ferry and duty there until October 29. Reconnaissance to Charlestown October 16–17. Advance up Loudon Valley and movement to Falmouth, Va., October 29-November 17. Snicker's Gap November 2. Manassas Gap November 5–6. Battle of Fredericksburg, December 12–15. At Falmouth until April 1863. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6. Battle of Chancellorsville May 1–5. Reconnaissance to the Rappahannock June 9. Kelly's Ford June 10. Gettysburg Campaign June 13-July 24. Battle of Gettysburg July 1–3. Pursuit of Lee July 5–24. Duty on line of the Rappahannock until September. Advance from the Rappahannock to the Rapidan September 13–17. Bristoe Campaign October 9–22. Auburn and Bristoe October 14. Advance to line of the Rappahannock November 7–8. Mine Run Campaign November 26-December 2. Mine Run November 28–30. At Stevensburg until May, 1864. Demonstration on the Rapidan February 6–7. Rapidan Campaign May 4-June 12. Battles of the Wilderness May 5–7; Corbin's Bridge May 8; Spotsylvania May 8–12; Po River May 10; Spotsylvania Court House May 12–21. Assault on the Salient May 12. Landen House May 18. North Anna River May 23–26. Line of the Pamunkey May 26–28. Totopotomoy May 28–31. Cold Harbor June 12. Before Petersburg June 16–18. Siege of Petersburg June 16, 1864, to April 2, 1865. Jerusalem Plank Road June 22–23, 1864. Demonstration north of the James at Deep Bottom July 27–29. Deep Bottom July 27–28. Mine Explosion, Petersburg, July 30 (reserve). Demonstration north of the James at Deep Bottom August 13–20. Strawberry Plains, Deep Bottom, August 14–18. Ream's Station August 25. Reconnaissance to Hatcher's Run December 7–10. Hatcher's Run December 8. Dabney's, Mills, Hatcher's Run, February 5–7, 1865. Watkins' House, Petersburg, March 25. Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9. On line of Hatcher's and Gravelly Runs March 29–30. Hatcher's Run or Boydton Road March 31. White Oak Road March 31. Sutherland Station April 2. Sailor's Creek April 6. High Bridge, Farmville, April 7. Appomattox Courthouse April 9. Surrender of Lee and his army. March to Washington, D.C., May 2–12.

Grand Review of the Armies The Grand Review of the Armies was a military procession and celebration in the national capital city of Washington, D.C., on May 23–24, 1865, following the Union victory in the American Civil War (1861–1865). Elements of the Union Army in the ...

May 23.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 306 men during service; 18 officers and 190 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 2 officers and 96 enlisted men died from disease-related causes.

Commanders

* Colonel

Abram Wakeman Abram Wakeman (May 31, 1824 – June 29, 1889) was an attorney, businessman, and politician from New York City. An important figure in the creation of the Republican Party in the mid-1850s, and a supporter of the Union during the American Civil ...

- resigned in favor of Miller * Colonel James Miller - killed in action at the Battle of Seven Pines * Colonel Henry Boyd McKeen - mortally wounded at the Battle of Cold Harbor while in command of a brigade *

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Amos Stroh - commanded at the Battle of Gettysburg * Lieutenant Colonel William Wilson - commanded at the First Battle of Deep Bottom and during the Appomattox Campaign

Notable members

* Private Ching Lee (a.k.a. Thomas Sylvanus), Company D - one of an estimated 50+ Chinese Americans who served in the Union or Confederate Army or Navy during the war * Private Henry Brignall Kite baptised 1 December 1809 at Lydd All Saints, Kent, England. Emigrated to the USA as a young man independent of his parents and curiously married a Jane Jackson Hancock. Served in Company E and killed in action at the age of 52 on 1 June 1862 at the Battle of Seven Pines/Fair Oaks

Notes

References

* Bonsall, Spencer. ''Well Satisfied with My Position: The Civil War Journal of Spencer Bonsall'' (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press), 2007. * Dyer, Frederick H. ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion'' (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908. * Wilson, Harry. ''Oration at the Unveiling of the Monument Erected by the State of Pennsylvania on the Battle-field of Gettysburg in Honor of, and Upon the Spot Where Fought the Eighty-first Regiment, Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers'' (Philadelphia, PA: Spangler & Davis), 1889. ;Attribution * {{CWR

External links

81st Pennsylvania Infantry monument at Gettysburg
Military units and formations established in 1861 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865 Units and formations of the Union Army from Pennsylvania 1861 establishments in Pennsylvania