Historical Sketch:
Col., Joshua B. Howell; Lieut.-Cols., Norton McGiffin, H. A. Purviance, Edward Campbell; Majs., Absalom Guiler, James B. Tredwell, Edward Campbell, Isaac M. Abraham. The 85th was recruited from the counties of Fayette, Washington, Somerset and Greene, and was mustered into the U. S. service at Camp La Fayette near Uniontown, Nov. 12, 1861, for a three years' term. It was ordered to Washington at the end of November, went into camp at Camp Good Hope and was employed with a brigade under Col. Tidball, in strengthening the defenses of Washington. On March 29, 1862, attached to the 2nd brigade, 3d division, 4th corps, it left Washington for Fortress Monroe, where it joined the Army of the Potomac, and participated in the operations on the Peninsula, being engaged at Williamsburg and Fair Oaks, but was not active in the battles following. From Suffolk, where it was stationed after the close of the campaign, the 85th was ordered to New Berne, N. C, and joined the Goldsboro expedition, engaging the enemy several times en route. Jan., 1863, was spent in camp near New Berne, and at the close of the month the regiment was ordered to Hilton Head, S. C, where it remained until April 1, when it moved to Folly island. It shared in the siege of Fort Wagner, though its ranks were sadly depleted by sickness and exposure to the trying southern summer, and occupied Morris island with the rest of the troops after the fall of the fort. In December it was ordered back to Hilton Head and encamped near Port Royal, a much more healthful locality. It joined in the unsuccessful expedition to Whitemarsh island, near Savannah, in Feb., 1864; was transferred in April to the Army of the James, and posted at Bermuda Hundred, Va., where it performed picket duty until June. It then proceeded to Petersburg and was active in that vicinity in a number of engagements from June to October. On Oct. 14, the veterans and recruits were transferred to the 188th Pa. infantry and the remainder of the men, after spending a month in camp at Portsmouth, were mustered out at Pittsburg on Nov. 22.
Roster:
The Roster of this unit contains the names of 1780 men. Source:
The Union Army by Federal Publishing Company, 1908 - Volume 1 Bibliography:
Barcousky, Len. Civil War Pittsburgh: Forge of the Union. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2013. ISBN 9781626190818.
Blair, William and William Pencak, editors. Making and Remaking Pennsylvania's Civil War. University Park, Pennsylvania: Penn State University Press, 2004.
Fox, Arthur B. Our Honored Dead: Alleghany County, Pennsylvania, in the American Civil War. Chicora, Pennsylvania: Mechling Bookbindery, 2008.
Fox, Arthur B. Pittsburgh During the American Civil War 1860–1865. Chicora, Pennsylvania: Mechling Bookbindery, 2002.
Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce. Southern Revenge: Civil War History of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Chambersburg, Pennsylvania: Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce, 1989.
Miller, William J. The Training of an Army: Camp Curtin and the North's Civil War. Shippensburg, Pennsylvania: White Mane, 1990.
Sandou, Robert M. Deserter County: Civil War Opposition in the Pennsylvania Appalachians. Fordham University Press, 2009.
Skinner, George W., ed. Pennsylvania at Chickamauga and Chattanooga: Ceremonies at the Dedication of the Monuments Erected by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Wm. Stanley Ray, State Printer, 1897.
Taylor, Frank H. Philadelphia in the Civil War. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The City, 1913.
Wingert, Cooper H. Harrisburg and the Civil War: Defending the Keystone of the Union. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2013. ISBN 9781626190412.
Young, Ronald C. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the Civil War. Lancaster, Pennsylvania: published by the author, 2003.
Historical Sketch: