At The Wall : The 69th Pennsylvania at Gettysburg

About the Book

They came from the Irish neighborhoods of Philadelphia. At the bottom of the social strata, they were the laborers; the railroad workers; the canal diggers and the dock workers always “last hired – first fired”. In 1861, at the start of the Civil War, several Philadelphia Irish neighborhood militia companies joined together to volunteer their services to the Union army and would eventually become the 69th Pennsylvania “Irish Volunteers”. From September 1861 to April 1865 these men would fight in every major battle with the Army of the Potomac. Of the 1007 men who left Philadelphia in September 1861 only 56 would remain at Appomattox Courthouse. All the rest were killed, wounded, taken prisoner, deserted or died of disease. In those four years, the regiment would be in thick of the fighting at Savage Station, Glendale, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania Courthouse , Cold Harbor and the Petersburg siege. At Gettysburg, on July 3rd, they would hold the wall at the union centre against Pickett’s Division. The 69th Pennsylvania marched north with the Second Corps in their pursuit of Lee in June of 1863, at times traveling by foot more than 30 miles per day. They arrived in Pennsylvania on the first of July and occupied the centre of the Union line the next morning. They occupied their wall on July 2nd and helped repel the attack of Wright’s Georgia brigade. On July 3 they would be there to defend their wall against Pickett’s Assault. In that fight they would lose their Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Major and have 48 other men killed, 74 wounded and 17 taken prisoner. The regiment held firm as units to their right and left fell back. Almost surrounded they would hold until reinforced by Union forces rushing to the scene of battle. This book is their story--- The story of the 69th Pennsylvania “Irish Volunteers” at Gettysburg. The author examined the compiled service records and pension files of all men in the regiment at Gettysburg. He examined their medical records. He introduces the reader to all of the 322 lads of the regiment at Gettysburg their birthplaces, occupations, wives, children and military record. The author places them in their company battle line positions and examines in minute by minute detail the entire July third assault and the effect that attack had on each man in the regiment

About the Author

Don Ernsberger has been an educator, political activist and Civil War buff for almost all of his life. At age 59, he now spends his time as Deputy Chief of Staff for a US Congressman in Washington DC when he is not out on a Civil War reenactment site or battlefield tour or traveling the world or at his summer home in Cape May New Jersey. For 30 years, he was a High School and College teacher of American History and Philosophy and spent a large amount of his life as an activist with the Libertarian Movement in America. As an undergrad at Penn State University, he was active in libertarian causes from student rights to resistance to collectivism and the military draft and actively opposed the Vietnam war. During his teaching career, he earned is graduate degrees, built a house,raised a family and was active outside the classroom with the Libertarian Party as an organizer, member of the National Committee and candidate for the US House and US Senate. His lifelong interest in the War between the States stretches back to 5th grade when he wrote a small book on the issues that caused the war and when his parents took him to Gettysburg in 1863. He has read and studied all of the classic works on the war and has been involved as a Civil War reenactor with the 69th Pa "Irish Volunteers" for the past 11 years with his son Mike. He can be found hiking across battlefields or on a backpack trail; playing his guitar or riding his waverunner; working on Congressional legislation or researching & writing a new book; traveling the world or just pondering philosophy.