The image of Jacob Schmid was donated by his great-greandson John Stahl.

John Christian Ambacher

1864

John Christian Ambacher was born in 1837 in Neidingen, a farming village some 50 kilometers southeast of Stuttgart, the capital of present-day Baden-Wuerttemberg. In 1854 he emigrated to the United States and settled in Philadelphia. When the Civil War began, he joined the 98th Pa Vol and remained with that regiment until the end of the conflict. His pay record indicates that he served in several companies in the 98th and that he rose and fell in rank with some regularity. At Gettysburg he is listed as a Private. He received an officer's commission from Governor Curtin on June 1, 1865 and left the army as a First Lieutenant. After the war he returned to Philadelphia where he married Mary Bauer with whom he resided until his death in 1913. Mary applied for an increased pension on the grounds that his health was irreparably damaged in the Wilderness, but this petition was not granted.

This information was submitted by his great-grandson Robert Ambacher, Ph.D.

William Linder

The following information was provided by decendants of William Linder who served with Company H of the 98th PVI. At the Gettysburg campaign he was a Corporal.

Lidner Civil War Record
Linder Civil War Record
Linder Pension Record

Louis Dingler

The following is the discharge paper for Louis Dingler of Company H.
Louis Dingler Discharge

Godfrey Eardley

He was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States in the 1850's. He was a member Company B. He was medically discharged June 21, 1962. On April 16, 1862 he was reduced in Rank from Sgt. back to Corporal due to being under arrest at the time at Camp Winfield Scott, VA. He had a possibly as son of the same name who was a member of Company K.

Martin Hammer

Born: November 26, 1826
Died: January 16, 1914
Buried: Mt. Vernon Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA
Captain, Co G., 98th Penna. Volunteer Infantry

John & Michael Conlow

John Conlow was killed at the Battle of the Wilderness. He was a Sgt. in Company A of the 98th Pennsylvania.

Michael was also in the same company and was wounded at the same battle and was Hospitalized for 3 or 4 months. He was honorably discharged and became a Philadelphia Firefighter.
John and Michael enlisted along with their 2 brothers and father, Patrick. Patrick was killed at Antietam. He was with the 55th Pennsylvania.

George Yost

The following information was provided by a decendant of Sgt Yost who served with Company D of the 98th PVI. The decendant has shared the information that his grandmother passed down to him through her stories she had been told by her Great-Grandfather, Sgt. Yost. and through his war records that she had kept.

He was wounded at Cold Harbor (for the third time - wounded slightly at Chancellorsville, then badly wounded at Gettysburg, the hit by shrapnel at Cold Harbor) there is a physician's note in his records, saying, "Sergeant Yost is not fit for the Invalid Corps. He has been a good and faithful soldier." And so, my great-great-grandfather was honourably discharged from the 98th in summer 1864, and retired with a pension as a cripple.

Sergeant George Yost fought at Gettysburg.

The 98th arrived at Gettysburg late in the afternoon on July 2 1863, the second day of the battle. His regiment, the 98th, were at the head of the Sixth Corps, and they had marched up from Maryland for the previous day or so. When they arrived, they got lost, and broke away from the Sixth Corps and joined up with other Yankees who were fighting near Little Round Top - and then they fixed bayonets and charged, late in the day, exhausted.

He was badly wounded in the leg during that last fight on July 2 1863, when the 98th repulsed the last attempt of the Rebels to takethe high ground. At Plum Run he was wounded somewhere around Plum Run Creek, very late in the day on July 2 1863.

Most of the Sixth Corps did not go into battle on July 2, but the 98th did, because they were the first of the Sixth Corps to arrive, and then they got lost and took their own initiative to join the battle where they found it.

The 98th were in the last combat of July 2, and they turned the tide of battle late on that day, setting the stage for Pickett's charge and the defeat of the Rebels.

The last combat fought on the second day of Gettysburg, was decided by the charge of the 98th Pennsylvania.

He had a crippled leg for the rest of his life, to prove this story.

He was shot by a man of Alabama or Georgia, around 6 PM on July 2 1863. The men who opposed him were all Alabamans and Georgians - God bless them and rest their souls.

Charles Haussmann

The following information was provided by a great-granddaughter of Pvt. Haussmann who served with Company E of the 98th PVI.



Here is a picture of Charles Haussmann who came to the U.S. in 1856 aboard the Ship Empress with his mother and four siblings. He was born in the town of Oberboihingen in what is now Germany.

He was wounded int he Civil War. According to his pension records "he was unable to support himself by reason of "rheumatic paines in both shoulders and continous internal pains, together with a gun shot wound acrossed both of his legs received in the line of duty at the Battle of White House Landing, Virginia". He was in Company E of the 98th. He was honorably discharged on June 29th, 1865.

He lived in Philadelphia, Pa. In January, 1866 he married Johanna Stahl and went on to have nine children of which only two lived to adulthood.

He is buried in Northwood Cemetery in Philadelphia, PA.

Note: On the Pennsylvania monument in Gettysburg, his name is misspelled.

Joseph Lautenbacher

The following information was provided by a descendant of Cpt. Lautenbacher who served with Company C of the 98th PVI.

He enlisted in the unit on October 1, 1961 for 3 years. He was promoted from 2nd Lieutenant to 1st Lt on August 15, 1862 and then to Captain on APril 8, 1864.

He was wounded at Malvern Hill, VA on July 1, 1862 and was finally discharged on surgeon's certificate on November 20, 1964.

Israel Fidler

The following information was provided by a descendant of Pvt Fidler who served with Company F of the 98th PVI.

He enlisted for 60 days service in March of 1865 at 44 years of age. He mustered out July of 1865. His time in service was in the defenses of Washington DC.

Christian Huhn

He enlisted for service in August 22, 1861. He was wounded in the battle of the Wilderness on May 6, 1864 and discharged August 28, 1864 either on a medical discharge or at the expiration of his 3 year enlistment.

He was enlisted in Company A of the 98th

Members of the 98th who are interred
at
Philadelphia National Cemetery

Name	Date of Death	Company	Plot
Cardaneo, Henry	March 26, 1875	Co. I	134
Coetz, Jacob (sgt)	Sept. 30, 1920	Co. K	236
Dino, Jno	March 26, 1864	Co. K	699*
Dunmire, Jacob	July 24, 1865	Co. I	315
Korn, Friedrich	Jan 08, 1813	Co. K	33
Laminger, Adam		Co. E	104
Lewis, George W (cpl)	Feb 1877	Co. E
Martin, John C	Feb 28, 1877	Co. C	128/
Matthews, Reinhold	March 16, 1901	Co. E	289
Nichols, Alexander W	June 30, 1946	Co. CAC	87
Reimer, Jacob		Co. B	83*
Stroupp, Peter (sgt)	April 1, 1911	Co. D	1

*Dino - original burial was at Glenwood, PA
*Dunmire - original burial was at Mt. Moraiah, PA
*Reimer - original burial was at Bristol W Hall Cems, Phila, PA.

Taylor McClure

Private McClure enlisted April 6, 1865 as a late war Substitute. He mustered out with Company, June 29, 1865. He was born about 1848 and died in 1906

Frederick Strohm

Attached information was provided by the great grandson of Frederick Strohm, who served in Co. E, 98th PA Volunteers.
Frederick Strohm 1833-1872
Friedrich Strohm was born on Feb. 10, 1833 at Leonberg not far from Stuttgart in the Principality of Wrttemberg in south-western Germany. He immigrated to the United States aboard the ship "Advance, " Le Havre-New York, arriving in New York on 14 June, 1853. According to the declaration of his widow, Veronika Winker-Strohm,they married in Philadelphia on 20 June 1855. (Another document, attested to by Veronika Winker-Strohm gives the date as June 25, 1855 and the location as Lancaster City, Pa.) Presiding was the Rev. B. W. Schmauk. Witnesses were Andrew Suttee (?) and Jacob Bendal (Beudal?).

By 1858 the Strohms had settled in Pottsville, Pa. where their first two children were born. Their first child was Maria Theresia, born 28 May, 1859 and baptized on 5 June 1859 at St. John the Baptist R. C. Church in Pottsville. Their second surviving child was a son , Frederick, born on 2 Dec. 1860 and baptized on 2 December 1860 in the same church.

After the outbreak of the Civil War in April of 1861, Fred Strohm, like many young immigrants, enlisted in the army, whether out of a spirit of patriotic idealism or adventure or both. In any case he traveled to Philadelphia and enrolled as a three year volunteer in a regiment being raised there by Col. John P. Ballier. Strohm was mustered into Company E. of Col. Ballier's Regiment by Capt. Starr on Sept. 13, 1861. Ballier's Regiment was then taken into state service as the Twenty-First Regiment Pennsylvania Infantry and subsequently absorbed into U. S. Army as the 98th Regiment Pennsylvania Infantry. By 26 September 1861 regimental enlistments were more or less completed. The 98th Pennsylvania Infantry was composed mostly of young men, like Friedrich Strohm, who were o German birth or parentage. Only Co. A of the 10 companies of the regiment was not primarily German. Its soldiers were mostly Irish. The Regiment initially drilled at Camp Ballier, near Girard College in Philadelphia.

On 30 Sept. 1861 the 98th Regiment. was transferred to Washington and attached to the Fourth Army Corps under Gen. Erasmus Keyes. It was encamped at Tennallytown, Va. and trained throughout the winter. In the spring of 1862 it was embarked and transported to Fortress Monroe and participated in the disastrous Peninsula Campaign under General George B. McClellan. Initially the regiment took part in the Union siege of Yorktown, holding a position near Warwick Court House, doing picket duty, building entrenchments, and laying roads during April and early May. On 5 May l862 the men of the 98th Pennsylvania. received their baptism of fire in front of the Confederate Fort Magruder near Williamsburg, Va. The regiment participated in the remaining part of that unlucky enterprise until August 1862, when it was withdrawn from the peninsula. Whether it was engaged in any of the large battles such as Seven Pines, Fair Oaks, Gaine's Mill or Malvern Hill, I am not able to determine at this time.

The 98th Pennsylvania Infantry was next ordered to Alexandria, Va. and late in August, 1862 had the unhappy duty of covering the Union retreat from the Second Battle of Bull Run. "Then followed Lee's invasion of the north, the battle of South Mountain and Antietam, the capture of Miles at Harper's Ferry, the chase after a foraging detachment of rebels and the return to the Army of the Potomac near New Baltimore, Virginia."

The regiment was attached to the Sixth Corps and participated in the Battle of Fredericksburg in Dec. 1862. In May of 1863 under the new commanding officer of the Army of the Potomac General Hooker, the Sixth Corps was placed under the command of Gen. John Sedgwick, one of the most popular Union Corps commanders. During the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Sixth Corps remained. at Fredericksburg and took conspicuous part in the action against Confederate entrenchments to the rear of the city. After Hooker's defeat, the Sixth Corps was attacked by Lee at the Battle of Salem Church and was compelled to retreat with heavy losses, some of which we may assume, were shared by the 98th Pennsylvania.

On July 1, 1863 the Sixth Corps, including the 98th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry with Private Strohm among its numbers was encamped at Manchester, Md. The 98th was part of the Third Brigade of the VI Corps and under the command of Brig. General Frank Wheaton. Ordered to march north to Gettysburg, they covered the thirty eight miles in an overnight march and arrived on the battlefield around 2 P. M. of the second day of battle. Between 4 P.M. and sundown the 98th Pennsylvania was positioned in front of Little Round Top on the Union left. From that position they charged with fixed bayonets through the marsh of Plum Run, receiving fire from the infamous "Devils Den." They skirted the famous Wheat Field battle area, took some prisoners, and were then ordered to withdraw. Losses during the battle were light; one killed and ten wounded. The 98th took no further part in the Battle of Gettysburg, but held its position on the field during the remainder of the fighting.

The following is a description of the action of the 98th Pennsylvania extracted from the address of Captain Jacob A. Schmide and the dedication of the monument to the regiment on September 11, 1889.

On the evening of July 1, 1863, the Ninety-eighth Regiment Pennsylvania- Volunteers, four hundred strong, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel John B. Kohler and Major J. W. Beamish, was in bivouac near Manchester, Maryland, thirty-eight miles from here, with the rest of the Sixth Army Corps, and shortly after dark was ordered on the march towards Gettysburg, where heavy fighting had already been going on during the day; the regiment was fortunate enough to have the leading position of the corps assigned to it for that march, a position which, in a column on a march, and especially on a march as that one was, is very advantageous, as it enabled us to reach the battle-field here in very good order and form, after marching all night and day without intermission, until we arrived at Rock creek, at a point about a mile south of where the Baltimore pike crosses said stream, and may fairly be included in the area of this battle-field.

We arrived there shortly after 2 o'clock and were halted and allowed to rest for probably fully an hour, when we were advanced, with our brigade, to the bridge on the Baltimore pike over Rock creek, being placed in line on the south bank, on the left of the pike, facing the stream. Hardly had the brigade got in line in that position when we were again ordered forward, and crossed the creek partly by way of the bridge and party by fording the stream, doing so under our lamented General Sedgwick's personal supervision. We were at once urged forward as fast as possible and soon lost sight of and became detached from our brigade, being directed by a staff officer who accompanied us towards the left, we making a good part of the distance on the double-quick, and were brought onto Little Round Top, and by the direction of a staff officer formed in line of battle; being right in front necessitated our forming on the right by files into line.

Our right resting at a point about four hundred feet south of the road that crosses Round Top ridge, our left extending well up to what may be called the rockier part of the western slope of the hill, facing the wheat-field, with the intervening ridge and marsh directly in line of our front This line of our regiment was formed immediately in rear of a line of others of our troops, whom we soon found were some of the Pennsylvania Reserves, and whose left was somewhat overlapped by our formation. Our other troops appeared at that time as being apparently driven from or leaving the field in our front pretty well broken up and the enemy in what seemed to us to be also rather disorganized parties, following closely after them, however, placing a couple of guns that our men were trying to save, in apparent jeopardy of being captured, from I may say almost under our eyes. Therefore, before the regiment was hardly formed in line we were ordered to fix bayonets followed immediately by the command, "forward Ninety-eighth, charge," and forward we did go, advancing through the line of troops mentioned as lying directly in front of us while we formed, they apparently willingly opening their ranks to let us through; we charged through the marsh of Plum run, advancing to the foot of the ridge on the west side of the swamp; whatever there was in our immediate sight of the enemy, in our direct front. Retreating before us with little firing; we however received a livelier fire from the left (Devil's Den) while crossing the swamp, which, together with the difficulty at crossing through the soft slough, had the effect to break our line up somewhat, so that the halt at the foot of the ridge, though for a few moments only, allowed those who became delayed(stuck in the mire)in crossing,to catch up.

The troops through whom we had passed, as before mentioned, also started to advance while we lay at the foot of the ridge, and on their left adjoining our right they also halted a few moments when the whole extended line again advanced, we up the ridge to and over the stone wall skirting the wheatfield, our left well into the woods on the left, driving back some and making prisoners of a number of what looked to us like disorganized straggling parties of the enemy, with little extra effort on our part. We were, however, soon recalled to the stone wall on the ridge and held that position until near dusk, when we were ordered to the right and rejoined our brigade taking position on the right of it, which brought us on this line, having sustained in the charge and the other movements just described the comparatively light loss of only one man killed and ten wounded. And in this line and position we were kept to the end of the battle without actually any further losses or becoming further engaged.

During the remainder of the war the Sixth Corps did extraordinary duty. I do not have any information at this time of the specific role played by the 98th Pennsylvania Infantry, however, the VI Corps of which it was a part was engaged in the Shenandoah Valley under Gen. Phil Sheridan in l864 and also took part in the final campaign under Grant to Richmond. The Corps participated in the Wilderness Campaign and at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, its commanding officer, Gen. Sedgwick was killed by sniper fire. In July of 1864 was pulled out of the main army to return to the Washington area to protect it against the attack on the capital by the Confederates under Gen. Early. "The 98th Pennsylvania Infantry was the first regiment of the corps to drive the rebels from in front Of Fort Stevens, under the eyes of the late, lamented Lincoln, who personally tendered his thanks to the commander for the part taken in defeating the rebel designs."

From the fall of 1864 through the spring of 1865 the VI Corps with the 98th Infantry Regiment was again part of the Amy of the Potomac, now engaged in the final great effort to take Richmond, the Siege of Petersburg. What Private Fred Strohm's part in all of these battles was I do not know. However, I am attempting to obtain regimental documents to see if anything specific can be found out.

Frederick Strohm's Death

The following can be determined from Frederick Strohm's service record and the claim made by Veronica Strohm for a widow's Pension:

Frederick Strohm served in the United States Army from Sept. 3, 1861 until mustered out with his Company on 29 June 1865. During the period from May 1862 to December 1862 his name was recorded in official records as Friedrich Strom. Before this period and after it alternates as Friedrich or Frederick Strohm. His rank remained Private throughout the war.

In order to permit him to reenlist as a "Veteran Volunteer," Strohm was prematurely discharged on Dec. 2, 1863, while the Army of the Potomac lay in winter quarters at Brandy Station, Va. This was a procedure instituted by the U.S. government to prevent the loss of its original volunteers, whose terms of service would have expired during 1864. A bounty of $4OO was offered by the federal government and usually a similar one was granted by the individual states.

At the time of his reenlistment on Dec. 25, 1863, Frederick Strohm is listed as having been born in Leonberg, Wrttemberg. His age is given as "28." This is obviously incorrect. If the birth year given in other documents is accurate, Strohm was nearly thirty-one at the time of his reenlistment. His eyes are recorded as "gray," his hair and complexion described as "lt." Strohm's occupation is recorded as "shoemaker." Whether this refers to his military or civilian occupation is unclear. According to the military records he was five feet, five inches tall. At the time of reenlistment Strohm's bounty was credited to Philadelphia--probably because he had enlisted there. He seems to have received an initial payment of $60 or $110. As a "Veteran Volunteer" he was also entitled to a furlough although there is no indication that he took one at the time. He was also permitted to wear a special chevron in his sleeve, designating him a "Veteran Volunteer." The second installment of his bounty was due and presumably paid during the period Jan. Feb. 1864. During March and April l864 he is listed "On detach. service at Div. Hd Qrs." The third installment of his volunteers bounty became due in July-August l864 and was presumably paid. The fourth installment came due in Nov. Dec. l864 and was also apparently paid at that time. At the end of the Civil War (April 1865) the Sixth Corps was returned to the Washington area and Strohm possibly participated in the revue of the Grand Army of the Republic in Washington at the end of May although considering his physical condition at the time,probably he did not. At the time of his mustering out he was still due $190 in bounty and $13. 7O in clothing allowance.

During the last months of the war Frederick Strohm fell ill. According to the deposition of Charles Hackel, First Sergeant and later First Lieutenant of Co. E 98th Pennsylvania Infantry, Frederick Strohm contracted a bad cold and cough in the month of March 1865, while we were lying in front of Petersburg, Va., in consequence of the hardships of camplife while in the time of his duty and in the service of the United States." In a similar affidavit, Frank Becker who had been Commanding Officer of Company E during the last days of the war testified that "the said Frederick Strohm was a hearty man when he enlisted, and that towards the close of the Rebellion he complained of feeling bad, although he did not go to the Hospital but kept with his company. In my opinion he contracted sickness while in the service from which he afterward died."

Mustered out of the service, Frederick Strohm returned to his wife and family in Pottsville. During the next few years two more children were born to the Strohms. On June 29, 1867 Louisa Strohm was born and baptized at St. John's on July 4th. Their youngest daughter, Annie (my grandmother), was born on 2 April, 1869 and baptized on April 17th.

Stohm's illness persisted so that by the fall of 1868 he was forced to seek medical assistance. According to three separate depositions issued by Dr. C. H. Haeseler of Pottsville, Pa., Frederick Strohm suffered from "pulmonary consumption, resulting from. . . . . . pneumonia which he contracted during his service in the U.S. Army.. After Oct. 27, 1870 the illness rapidly intensified. Dr. Haeseler recorded a number of office and home visits and after Jan. 3, 1871 attested that he "gave up the case as hopeless."

Frederick Strohm died on 28 Jan. 1871. According to a death record sworn as part of the supporting evidence for a Widow's Pension, he was 37 years, 11 months and 18 days of age." The documents of this claim form the basis for most of what I presently know about his life, military service and death. Strohm's wife, whose maiden name was Winker (not Winkler), was also probably born in Germany. Her signature, wherever it appears on any of the documents, is in German script. If the record giving her age to be 59 in 1886 is reliable, she was born in 1827 or thereabouts.

Despite depositions by her husband's Commanding Officer and the First Lieutenant of his Company as well as three affidavits from Dr. Haeseler that Strohm's illness was the result of military service, the U.S. government never seems to have accepted the claim as proven. Furthermore, Veronika Strohm does not seem to have been able to prove her marriage. A General affidavit dated 11 Dec. 1886 attests "that she was married to Frederick Strohm on the 20th day of June 1855 in the City of Philadelphia, Pa. by the Rev. B. V. Schmauk who she is informed is dead and left no record of her marriage to the said soldier." Depositions by neighbors assert that she was viewed by all who knew her as Frederick Strohm's widow and that she had not remarried since his death. Although the original claim seems to have been made in 1880, a renewed effort was made in 1886. At this time it was further pointed out that on the original request for a pension, the two youngest children, Louisa and Annie, had been omitted by the lawyer entrusted with the case, apparently because they were born after the war.

It would appear that the Strohm family had a difficult time both during and after Fred Strohm's illness. In Dr. Haeseler's last statement of Nov. 8, 1886, he states "I solemnly swear and declare that I gave my professional attendance to the deceased soldier Frederick Strohm from the first after his return from the army, until within a few days of his death, when I knew, and told the family the case was hopeless. I cannot now remember the dates of my attendance; nor was I in continuous attendance, he being sometimes a little better--as patients are in consumption, before the final and fatal stage sets in--and the family were too poor to pay for continuous doctoring and too proud to accept it for nothing." "It is hard that this widow of a soldier who contracted his fatal illness in the service, should be kept from her rights for so long."

According to the Death Record of 1880, Frederick Strohm was buried from the German Evangelica1 Lutheran Trinity Church of Pottsville, Pa. By G. A Hinterleitner, Pastor of that church. Inasmuch as Wrttemberg is an essentially Protestant area of Germany this is not surprising. It is clear however, that Veronica Winker-Strohm was a Roman Catholic. This accounts for the fact that Frederick and Veronika are buried in separate cemeteries. He lies in a shady spot about half way up on the right side in the Protestant Odd Fellows Cemetery of Pottsville directly behind the Church of St. John the Baptist. His wife, however, not far away, high up on the left of old St. John's cemetery, also on the hill behind the church.

Despite the various affidavits and extensive testimony in support of Veronika Strohm's claim for a Civil War Widow's Pension, there is no indication that it was ever granted.

Documentation taken from the dossier on Frederick Strohm supplied by the U. S. National Archives. Information regarding the 98th Penna. Infantry taken from, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg. Ceremonies at the Dedication of the Monuments Erected by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Pa., 1904. Information regarding the Sixth Corps from various popular histories of the Civil War.

1) To say that the Sixth Corps did extraordinary duty is an understatement. By spring of l864 it had become one of the crack corps of the Army of the Potomac and was usually chosen for the most difficult assignments. The high point of the 98th Pennsylvania Infantry's role in the Sixth Corps seems to have been in the Battle of Ft. Stevens. This was the only battle personally witnessed by Abraham Lincoln. The engagement took place In July l864 when the VI Corps was taken out of the line before Petersburg by Gen. Grant and sent north by steamer to Washington which was then being threatened by Confederate troops under Gen. Jubal Early. The VI Corps arrived at the last moment, paraded down Seventh St. Washington and directly to the front lines in the suburbs of the capital. In the battle 'which ensued Earl's army was driven off and the threat to Washington broken. President Lincoln watched from the parapets of the fort until ordered by Sixth Corps Commander Gen. Wright to withdraw from the area because of the danger of sniper fire. Colonel Baler who now commanded the Brigade of which the 98th Reg. was a part, was personally commended by Lincoln for the role his men played in the battle and received a battlefield appointment to the rank of Brigadier General from the President. As noted, the 98th was the first regiment to engage the enemy before Ft. Stevens.

After the defeat of Early, the 98th was part of the pursuit of the Rebel Army. The pursuit was, according to Bruce Catton in A Stillness at Appomattox "a nightmare" lasting two weeks. Afterwards the exhausted veterans of the Sixth Corps were encamped in August along the banks of the Monocacy River near Frederick Md. It was from here that they were again sent on difficult duty as part of Gen. Phil Sheridan's Army to destroy the Rebel granary of the Shenandoah Valley. According to Catton the "Solid nucleus of Sheridan's new army was~Wright's VI Corps. This was probably the best fighting corps of the Army of ,the Potomac, . . . ." The object of the campaign was met through a scorched earth policy which turned the valley into a wasteland. In addition, two major battles were fought. At Winchester and in October. at Cedar Creek. In the latter battle it was the defiant strength of the Sixth Corps with veterans like Fred Strohm among them, which enabled Sheridan, who had arrived at the battlefield late in the day after a trip to Washington, to turn what seemed to be a route into a victory.

Location of Fred Strohm's grave: First Presbyterian Cemetery, (Odd Fellows)Pottsville (near old St. John's Cemetery, 9th & Pierce Sts.) Middle third of cemetery, ascending on right road, third level, on edge of road on left of road. Usually marked by US flag. Apart from name and military history, the stone bears the citation "Gone but not forgotten." Veronika Winker Strohm is buried in Old St. John's cemetery, toward crest of the hill on the left side. Her low stone in addition to her name bears the designation "Mother.

William Hacker

EDWIN BUCKMAN

This letter was transcribed by Dr Anthony Waskie. It is a letter from the Union Army surgeon to his wife.




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