1st Battalion, Pennsylvania Cavalry (6 months, 1863)



Historical Sketch:
The Pennsylvania 1st Cavalry Battalion (6 months) AKA 1st Battalion Militia Cavalry, was organized at Harrisburg, Pa., July 13, 1863. It was attached to the Department. of the Susquehanna.

Following a period of guarding the National Pike and the crossings of the Susquehanna River, the 1st was sent by train to western Pennsylvania to confront an anticipated raid on Pittsburgh by Gen. Morgan’s Cavalry. The attack never materialized. Gen. Morgan’s men were captured at Buffington Island in the Ohio River on July 19, 1863, and at New Lisbon on July 26th.

The 1st Battalion Militia Cavalry was mustered out August 21, 1863.
Officers:
Lieutenant Colonel
• Dale, Richard C.
Major
• Negley, Felix C.
Assistant Surgeon
• Gray (Grey), Samuel G.
Assignments:
Dept. of the Susquehanna.
Service:
Gathering deserters and recruiting
Guard the National Pike
Pursuit of Gen. Morgan
Roster:
The Roster of this unit contains the names of 669 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.


  • For Additional Research