The Eighty-Eighth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 88th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (PVI) initially served in garrisoning the forts around Washington D.C. and provided Provost Duty in Alexandria Virginia. The regiment was then ordered to field duty in the Army of Virginia where it participated in the 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign, and the battles of Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock Station, Thoroughfare Gap, Second Bull Run/ Manassas, and Ox Hill/Chantilly.
After the consolidation of the Army of the Virginia and the Army of the Potomac, the 88th served in the First (I) Corps through the battles of Antietam/Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and the Mine Run. It was later resubordinated into the Fifth (V) Corps in the post-Gettysburg consolidation and reorganization.
While serving in V Corps, the 88th fought in the Battles of the Wilderness, Laurel Hill, Spotsylvania, North Anna, Jericho Ford, Totopotomoy, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, White Oak Swamp, Petersburg, Jerusalem Plank Road, Weldon Railroad, Hatcher’s Run, Dabney’s Mill, Gravelly Run, White Oak Road, Five Forks, and ultimately Appomattox Court House.
The regiment’s battle honors speaks for themselves, and the accounts of these soldiers serve as a valuable primary source for operational, social, and human details of Army of the Potomac Operations throughout Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
The 88th Pennsylvania was a small and relatively healthy regiment, and as such escaped the post-war recognition bestowed upon those larger regiments suffering greater numbers of combined battlefield and health related deaths. William Fox, in his “Fighting 300 Regiments” sought to provide a post-war analysis of those regiments who most distinguished themselves in battle. Fox used the regimental casualties as his barometer for this military prowess. In his comparisons of the Union regiments, Fox examined losses in terms of raw numbers rather than losses proportional to the size of the regiment. Unfortunately, this did a great injustice to many
distinguished regiments.
The relative good health of the 88th was however, more than compensated for by battlefield casualties. In particular, the 88th exceeded many other regiments in the sheer numbers of officers killed and incapacitated while leading the regiment. During the course of the war,
the 88th had the extraordinary distinction of having been commanded by twenty-two different officers; three of whom were killed in action, four more that were incapacitated by wounds, and one captured on the field of battle. By mid-1864, the regiment was reduced to having field grade officers from other regiments periodically assigned to serve as the 88th’s acting commander. At various times, officers from the 11th Pennsylvania, the 56th Pennsylvania, the 107th Pennsylvania, and the 147th New York commanded the 88th.
While the soldiers consistently acquitted themselves well in battle, the constant turn over of regimental commanders took a severe toll on command continuity within the regiment. It is in part due to this lack of continuity in command, that the 88th remained relatively obscure in the post-war years. Officers temporarily detailed from others regiments were unfamiliar with the soldiers of the 88th and often had no strong interest in recognizing soldiers who distinguished themselves. Conversely, junior officers of the 88th who rose rapidly from the rank of Lieutenant to acting regimental commander often lacked the experience writing detailed after action reports. The combination of scant and undetailed reporting, coupled with the ever-revolving command structure, consigned the deeds of many heroic soldiers, and the regiment at large, to relative post-war obscurity. This obscurity however, makes their story all the more compelling.
From The Campfire Chronicles, The Words and Deeds of the 88th Pennsylvania by Major Mike N. Ayoub
For a detailed breakdown of the Eighty-Eighth Pennsylvania Volunteer service click here to visit the Civil War in the East website.
"Hell on the Walbash" - Music by the Camp Chase Fife and Drum