The 62nd 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 62nd Pennsylvania Infantry was organized at

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

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, ...

beginning July 4, 1861 and mustered in on August 31, 1861, as the 33rd Pennsylvania Regiment for a three-year enlistment 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 ...

Samuel W. Black. Its designation was changed to 62nd Pennsylvania Infantry on November 18, 1861. The regiment was attached to Morrell's Brigade, Fitz John Porter'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. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, III Corps, Army of the Potomac, to May 1862. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division,

V Corps 5th Corps, Fifth Corps, or V Corps may refer to: France * 5th Army Corps (France) * V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * V Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Ar ...

, to July 1864. The 62nd Pennsylvania Infantry mustered out August 15, 1864. Companies L and M were transferred to the 91st Pennsylvania Infantry. Veterans and recruits were transferred to the

155th Pennsylvania Infantry The 155th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment was a Federal infantry regiment that served in the American Civil War in the Army of the Potomac in the Eastern Theater of the conflict. Recruits from the Pittsburgh area and Allegheny County o ...

Detailed service

Left Pennsylvania for Washington, D.C., August 31, 1861. Camp near Fort Corcoran, defenses of Washington, D.C., until October 1861, and near Fall's Church, Va., until March 1862. Moved to the Peninsula March 22–24. Reconnaissance to Big Bethel March 30. Howard's Mills, near Cockletown, April 4. Warwick Road April 5. Siege of Yorktown April 5 – May 4. Hanover Court House May 27. Operations about Hanover Court House May 27–29. Seven Days before Richmond June 25 – July 1. Battles of Mechanicsville June 26; Gaines's Mill June 27; Savage Station June 29; Turkey Bridge or Malvern Cliff June 30; Malvern Hill July 1. At Harrison's Landing until August 16. Movement to Fort Monroe, then to Centreville August 16–28. Second Battle of Bull Run August 30. Battle of Antietam September 16–17. Shepherdstown Ford September 19. Blackford's Ford September 19. Reconnaissance to Smithfield October 16–17. Battle of Fredericksburg December 12–15. Expedition to Richard's and Ellis' Fords, Rappahannock River, December 30–31. Burnside's second Campaign, "Mud March," January 20–24, 1863. At Falmouth until April. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27 – May 6. Battle of Chancellorsville May 1–5. Middleburg June 19. Upperville June 21. Battle of Gettysburg July 1–3. Pursuit of Lee July 5–24. Duty on line of the Rappahannock until October. Bristoe Campaign October 9–22. Advance to line of the Rappahannock November 7–8. Rappahannock Station November 7. Mine Run Campaign November 26 – December 2. Duty at Bealeton Station until May 1864. Rapidan Campaign May 4 – June 12. Battle of the Wilderness May 5–7. Laurel Hill May 8. Spotsylvania May 8–12. Spotsylvania Court House May 12–21. Assault on the Salient May 12. North Anna River May 23–26. Jericho Ford May 25. Line of the Pamunkey May 26–28. Totopotomoy May 28–31. Cold Harbor June 1–12. Bethesda Church June 1–3. Before Petersburg June 16–18. Siege of Petersburg until July 3. Left front July 3.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 258 men during service; 17 officers and 152 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 89 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

* Colonel Samuel W. Black – killed in action at the Battle of Gaines's Mill * Colonel Jacob B. Sweitzer *

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 ...

James C. Hull

Notable members

* Private Philip M. Shannon, Company C – oil tycoon

References

* Dyer, Frederick H. ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion'' (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908. * ''The Sixty-Second Pennsylvania Volunteers in the War for the Union: Dedicatory Exercises at Gettysburg, September 11, 1889'' (Pittsburgh, PA: Barker), 1889. * Spisak, Ernest D. ''Pittsburgh's Forgotten Civil War Regiment: A History of the 62nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry & the Men Who Served with Distinction'' (Tarentum, PA: Word Association Publishers), 2013. ;Attribution * * {{CWR

External links

62nd Pennsylvania monument at Gettysburg
Military units and formations established in 1861 Military units and formations disestablished in 1864 Units and formations of the Union Army from Pennsylvania