Beschreibung
Philadelphia: Press of Wm. F. Fell & Co., 1892. FIRST EDITION. Original cloth, lettered in gilt. 270 pages. Illustrated. Fair or better.Hinges very cracked, especially in front; binding slightly shaken; clean pages; some wear to corners. Scarce regimental; none on current market. The 114th Pennsylvania was the brain-child of Charles H. T. Collis, an Irish immigrant who settled in Philadelphia becoming a prominent young lawyer. Collis initially raised only a small company of men calling them the "Zouaves d'Afrique" which served while attached to other regiments. They saw action in the 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign, the Battle of Cedar Mountain, and the Battle of Antietam. The "Zouaves d'Afrique" were much admired for their military bearing and prowess in battle to the point that it was decided to raise a full-sized regiment which was given the numeric designation of 114th Volunteer Infantry. Like other Zouave regiments raised in the larger cities of America, the 114th attracted some immigrants to its ranks who were veterans of European wars, but the rank and file consisted mostly of American-born citizens from Philadelphia and its surrounding counties.[1] In the winter of 1862 the regiment participated in the Battle of Fredericksburg. There they took part in a counterattack by Robinson's brigade of the III Corps to relieve General George G. Meade's brigade from potential disaster. When the Zouaves began to falter in their charge against the Confederate line, Colonel Collis seized the regiment's national colors and urged the men on. Their counterattack stalled, then pushed back, the Confederate advance thereby saving a Federal artillery battery from capture. For his actions in this battle Colonel Collis would belatedly receive the Medal of Honor in 1893.[2] The regiment would also take a prominent role in the Battle of Chancellorsville the following spring where they would endure their greatest number of casualties during any battle of the war. During the fighting, Colonel Collis, suffering from the effects of malaria, was observed being removed from the field on a stretcher by some officers who were personal enemies. After the battle they falsely accused Collis of cowardice in the face of the enemy although he had managed to command the regiment through most of the battle even while gravely ill. He was later brought to Court-martial to face these accusations but he successfully defended himself, introducing witnesses who could attest that he had served faithfully under fire during most of the battle until he collapsed from exhaustion due to his reoccurring problems with malaria. Collis was fully exonerated and allowed to return to duty, however his lingering illness would prevent him from participating with his regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg. There the 114th would again suffer a large number of casualties while defending the Peach Orchard salient. Significantly reduced in size, the regiment became part of an independent brigade after the III Corps was dissolved. During the remaining two years of the war the unit would often provide provost and guard duties at General Meade's headquarters in the field. This was due in part to the unit's colorful uniform and military bearing, but more so because General Meade, himself also a Philadelphia native, was particularly fond of the 114th's regimental band which was considered one of the best in the Army of the Potomac. During the army's winter encampment of 1863 64 at Brandy Station, Virginia, and later during the 1864 65 Siege of Petersburg, companies of the regiment would be frequently called away to serve as headquarters guards. As a result, they attracted the attention of several of the wartime photographers who would make them the most photographed Zouave unit in the field during the war. At the conclusion of hostilities in the Eastern Theater the 114th Pennsylvania was transferred into the famed Zouave Brigade of the Army of the Potomac's V Corps. They would lead the bright. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 15707
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