The 63^rd Pennsylvania

1861-1864

During the late summer of 1861, one hundred men from Beaver County, Pennsylvania banded together and enlisted en masse in the United States Army.  Their aim was to preserve the United States by helping to put down the confederacy.  This military unit was first called "Hanna's Light Guards," named for their commanding officer.  Later, they mustered in as Company C of the 63^rd Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers.

The regiment embarked for Washington in August of 1861 and remained in camp there, transforming themselves from citizens into soldiers.  During this time recruiting continued in Pittsburgh until the regiment reached a full compliment of one thousand men.

The first time the men faced their enemy occurred at an obscure place called Pohick Church, Virginia.  Three men were killed in this fight.  The regiment did not fare as well at all other battles for the remainder of the war.

The 63^rd Pennsylvania embarked on General George McClellan's Peninsula Campaign during the spring of 1862.  Here, they fought in the Battles of Fair Oaks, Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Malvern Hill.  The 63^rd lost one half of its men to battlefield casualties and disease during its first year of service.

The 63^rd next participated in the Second Battle of Bull Run.  At this engagement, the men charged an unfinished railroad cut that a rebel brigade had taken refuge behind.  After charging this position three times, the regiment finally gave ground.  Of three hundred and fifty men who went into this fight, seventy-eight remained to answer roll call that evening.  Among the casualties was Colonel Alexander Hays, who was severely wounded.

The next battle in which the 63^rd found itself was at Chancellorsville.  The regiment lost over one-third of its men through their valiant fight at this engagement.  During the Battle of Gettysburg the 63^rd found itself on the front lines and performed gallantly throughout the second day's fight.  Alexander Hays, now promoted to the rank of General, commanded a division that helped throw back the ill-fated Pickett's Charge.

During the fall of 1863, the 63^rd received a large number of drafted men to swell its depleted ranks.  However, it never again reached the 1,000-man strength it had just sixteen months before.

During the spring of 1864, the regiment participated in General Grant's overland campaign to take Richmond.  They fought in the Battles of the Wilderness, Cold Harbor, Spotsylvania, and Petersburg.

On September 9, 1864, the three-year term of enlistment for the 63^rd Pennsylvania officially ended, and the men were mustered out of service.  Of the one hundred and three men who left Beaver County in 1861, thirteen remained present for duty.  One dozen of their comrades, who made up the remainder of the company, lay seriously wounded in field hospitals.

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