August |
Three years regiment recruited. Colonel Dare was forced to resign due to illness, and died some time later. |
August 31 |
Organized at Philadelphia for three years service under Colonel David Birney, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Wilhelm and Major George Spear. Fifteen companies were formed, accompanied by two vivandieres and a band of 36 musicians. |
September |
Ordered to Washington, D.C. Attached to Buell's (Couch's) Division, Army of the Potomac and duty in the Defenses of Washington. |
September 8 |
Transferred to Camp Graham, four miles north of Washington |
December |
One officer and fifty men die of cholera in camp, and the regiment was moved to camp on better ground near Bladensburg. |
|
February 20 |
Colonel Birney was promoted to brigadier general, and Captain Thomas H. Neill took over as colonel. The five extra companies are ordered to be detached, with Companies L, O, P and R transferred under Major Spear to the 61st Pennsylvania and Company M to be disbanded, the men to be distributed among the rest of the regiment and the officers mustered out of the service. This was done, although under protest. |
March |
Attached to 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 4th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac |
March 11 |
Major Spear resigned to become lieutenant colonel of the 61st Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment |
March 10-15 |
Advance on Manassas, Va. |
March 26 |
Marched to Alexandria and embarked on steamer Vanderbilt for the Virginia Peninsula |
April 4 |
Warwick River
The 23rd lost one man, the regiment's first casualty. |
April 5-May 4 |
Siege of Yorktown |
May 5 |
Battle of Williamsburg
The regiment was in reserve but lost five men wounded to artillery fire. |
May 20-23 |
Operations about Bottom's Bridge |
May 23 |
Reconnaissance toward Richmond |
May 31-June 1 |
Battle of Fair Oaks, Seven Pines
The regiment lost 7 officers and 136 men in heavy fighting, including three color bearers; Lieutenant Colonel John Ely was severely wounded and Colonel Neill had his horse shot under him. |
June 30 |
White Oak Swamp and Charles City Cross Roads
At White Oak Swamp the regiment lost 14 casualties, having been split into two wings, one under Colonel Neill and the other under Captain John F. Glenn.
The next day the regiment lost 2 killed and 30 wounded after spending thirteen hours under fire on the skirmish line. |
July 1 |
Malvern Hill |
July |
At Harrison's Landing; attached to 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 4th Army Corps. |
July 20 |
Lieutenant Colonel Wilhelm resigned |
August 5-7 |
Reconnaissance to Malvern Hill under the command of Major Glenn, as Colonel Neill was in temporary command of a brigade. |
August 16-30 |
Movement to Alexandria via steamer City of Richmond (which towed a transport moving the 61st Pennsylvania) then a forced mach to Chantilly |
September 1 |
Chantilly
The regiment suffered five casualties. |
September |
Maryland Campaign. Attached to 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 6th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac |
September 2 |
The regiment rested at Alexander for a few hours, then crossed the Chain Bridge to Washington and left town on the Harpers Ferry Road. |
September 11-24 |
Guard Potomac from White's Ford to Nolan's Ferry during battles of South Mountain and Antietam as part of an independent brigade under the command of Colonel Thomas H. Neill. |
September 15 |
White's Ford. Company "B" captured at Nolin's Ford by Colonel White's Command. A party of 24 men of the regiment and nine men from the 2nd Rhode Island Cavalry under the command of Lieutenant Garsed of Company B were captured when they crossed to the Virginia side of the Potomac to attempt to bring in arms supposedly secreted in a barn. |
September 22 |
Lt. Colonel Ely returns from recovering from his Fair Oaks wound, and the regiment receives a new stand of colors,a gift of the ladies of Philadelphia. |
September 24 |
Moved to Downsville and picket duty on the Potomac |
October |
Attached to 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 6th Army Corps |
November 1-19 |
Movement to Falmouth, Va. |
December 12-15 |
Battle of Fredericksburg
The regiment was under the command of Major Glenn, as Colonel Neill had been recently promoted to brigadier general. The regiment was massed for the final charge but it was cancelled, and only suffered two casualties.
Lieutenant Colonel Ely returned from a temporary absence to resume command, and was commissioned colonel to date from the 13th. Major Glenn was promoted to lieutenant colonel. |
|
January 20-24 |
"Mud March" |
February-April |
At Falmouth |
April 27-May 6 |
Chancellorsville Campaign |
April 29-May 2 |
Operations at Franklin's Crossing. the brigade carried pontoon boats for the crossing two miles on their backs to prevent the noise of their wheels from being heard by the Confederates. |
May 3 |
Fredericksburg, Maryes Heights
One wing of the regiment deployed under Lieutenant Colonel Glenn in a successful feint to feel Confederate positions on Marye's Heights, losing 16 men. In the charge that followed the 23rd was intended to be in reserve, but it spontaneously joined the charge and took the place of another regiment which broke. The 23rd carried the Confederate works, losing 6 killed and 27 wounded. |
May 3-4 |
Salem Heights and Banks' Ford
The regiment sustained light losses supporting Maxhammer's Battery and in the withdrawal back across the river. Total casualties for the entire campaign were 71 killed and wounded and two captured. |
June 6-13 |
Operations about Deep Run Ravine |
June 16 |
The regiment marched 18 miles in extreme heat, the division losing 22 men to sunstroke, six of whom died. |
June 30 |
The regiment reaches Westminster via Poolesville and New Market |
July 1 |
Orders were received at 8 in the evening to join the fighting at Gettysburg, and the corps set off at once, cheering and singing, arriving at the field at 2 p.m. on the 2nd after a march of over 30 miles without halt or rest. |
July 2-4 |
Battle of Gettysburg
The regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John F. Glenn, and brought 538 men to the field.
From the monument: "About 9 p.m.of July 1, (the regiment) marched from Manchester thirty-seven miles reaching the field about 2 p.m. on July 2. Coming into position about 5 p.m. with Shaler's Brigade, near Little Round Top on morning of July 3. Ordered to Culp's Hill, where it remained until ordered to support of left centre. Started in pursuit of Lee July 5."
"The Regiment was placed in reserve in rear of this position at 9:30 a.m. of the 3rd, and subsequently five companies advanced into the breast-works. During the heavy cannonade it moved with the brigade to support the 'left center'."
"Loss in the action- two officers and twenty-nine enlisted men killed and wounded."
Captain John B. Fassett of Company F earned the Medal of Honor on July 2 when, acting as an aide, he voluntarily led a regiment to the relief of a battery and recaptured its guns from the enemy. |
July 5 |
The regiment was detailed for picket duty at Fairfield, capturing 83 prisoners. |
July 9 |
The regiment support the cavalry on the skirmish line. |
July 10-11 |
Engaged with Confederates near Funkstown. |
July 19 |
Crossed the Potomac at Berlin after being supplied with clothing. |
July 20-21 |
Proceeded to Warrenton via Manassas Gap |
August 15 |
Ordered to the mouth of the north fork of the Rappahannock on picket duty |
August 17 |
Returned to Warrenton, where the regiment was reinforced by 146 drafted men. |
September 2 |
Colonel Ely rejoined the regiment and resumed command. |
October 9-22 |
Bristoe Campaign |
November 7-8 |
Advance to line of the Rappahannock |
November 7 |
Rappahannock Station (Reserve) |
November 26-December 2 |
Mine Run Campaign
The regiment lost 1 killed and 7 wounded. |
December 6 |
Colonel Ely resigned due tohis wounds and sickness. Lt. Colonel Glenn was commissioned colonel and assumed command of the regiment. Major William Wallace became lieutenant colonel, and Captain Henry Rees was promoted to major. |
December |
The regiment received a new stand of colors bearing the names of the regiment's battles, as well as six hundred pairs of woolen gloves, the benefit of a Philadelphia ball given in the regiment's benefit. Ear warmers were also received from patriotic ladies in Bucks County. |
December 30 |
Regiment reenlisted; Veterans proceeded on furlough to Philadelphia under Colonel Glenn. |
|
January 6 |
Balance of regiment under Major Wallace moved via Wheeling and Sandusky to Johnson's Island, Lake Erie, Ohio (marching across the ice to the island) to guard Rebel Prisoners. |
February 11 |
Veterans rejoin from furlough and rejoin the regiment at Johnson's Island. |
May 9-13 |
Moved to Washington, D.C. then to Belle Plains; attached to 4th Brigade, 1st Division, 6th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, guarding Rebel Prisoners and processing them for distribution to Federal prison camps, and escorting a five hundred wagon supply train to the front. |
May 23-June 12 |
Rapidan Campaign |
May 23-26 |
North Anna River, destroyed the line of the Virginia Central Railroad |
November 26-28 |
After a forty mile march rejoined the army on line of the Pamunkey. |
|
May 28-31 |
Totopotomoy
The regiment was on the skirmish line, losing two men. |
June 1 |
Cold Harbor
The regiment charged five hundred yards across open ground, and fought for twenty-five minutes in the Confederate works, but were forced to withdraw fifty yards, at which point they entrenched.
The 23rd suffered heavy losses in this short time: 4 officers and 71 enlisted men killed, 5 officers and 111 enlisted men wounded, and 3 men captured, including Captain Henry Marchant, Lieutenants James Johnson, John D. Boyd and James G. Williamson. |
June 2 |
Major Wallace and five other men were wounded and three men killed during the heavy sharpshooting. The regiment expanded its rifle pits and entrenchments and spent the next several days in close trench warfare. |
June 16 |
After extensive marching and counter-marching, the regiment arrived at the arm of ex-President Tyler on the James River and embarked on the steamer Cauliflower for Bermuda Hundred. |
June 19 |
Crossed the Appomattox and attempted to push into Petersburg, losing ten men. |
June 22-23 |
Ream's Station, Weldon Railroad |
June 25 |
Siege of Petersburg |
July 9-11 |
Moved to Washington, leaving the trenches and marching to City Point, where the regiment embarked on the steamer Eastern States. |
July 11-12 |
Arrived at the Arsenal Wharf in Washington and immediately marched to Fort Stevens, where it formed skirmish line in front of the works. |
July 14-18 |
Snicker's Gap Expedition; marched to Poolesville, crossed the Potomac at White's Ford, and proceeded via Leesburg to Snicker's Gap. |
July |
Operations in Shenandoah Valley; attached to 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 6th Corps, Army of the Shenandoah. Returned to Washington, passing again through Leesburg and crossing the Chain Bridge, but then was ordered to return to the Shenandoah, and marched via Rockville, Centreville, Knoxville and Sandy Hook, arriving in Harpers Ferry on the 29th. After a march to Halltown, the regiment returned to Frederick, Maryland. |
August 7 |
Recrossed the Potomac and marched through Halltown, Berryville and Winchester to Cedar Creek. |
August 21 |
Charlestown. Ordered home for muster out. Veterans and Recruits transferred to 82nd Pennsylvania Infantry |
September 8 |
Mustered out at Philadelphia. |
