James Chadwick had apparently been so determined to fight on behalf of the Union that following President Abraham Lincoln’s call for men to turn out for three months of service he and several fellow students signed up with a volunteer company forming in the town of Meadville. When the College Company began to form, however, he joined it.
Soon enough it was clear in both Washington and the state capitals that the war crisis would not be resolved in ninety days. Harrisburg legislators passed a bill creating a Reserve Volunteer Corps of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to be enlisted for three years or for the duration of the war, and to be amalgamated into the U. S. Army as requisitioned. The rubric “reserve” suggested that the men would not serve on the front lines or see the war close up. It would not be long before the corps veterans were wryly commenting that the worst battles of the war were “reserved” for them.
Until the issue of duration of enlistments was resolved, Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin delayed acceptance of the College Company. The lads drilled, parading occasionally on Chestnut Street in Meadville, and chafed at the delay. On May 13, 1861, James wrote to his father.
Meadville, Pa., May 13, 1861
Dear Father:-
I believe Miles wrote to you last week.[1] I will drop you a line this mail. Nothing of importance transpiring here. We are all well.
When came back to this place I withdrew my name from the muster roll of the Meadville Volunteers and placed it on the roll of the College Volunteers.
About four days after I did so, the Meadville Volunteers were ordered into the Service of the Government; marched to Pittsburgh where they are now in camp awaiting further orders. There were seven or eight students who went in that company, two of them members of the Senior Class.
Prof. [Samuel P.] Bates, Deputy State Superintendent, went to Harrisburg last Thursday taking with him papers tendering the services of the “Allegheny College Volunteers.”[2] A telegram was received on Saturday from Prof. Bates that our company had been accepted by the Governor and that we would get marching orders in a few days. He said he would send another dispatch to us to-day,—Monday. Our Captain thinks we will be marching to some camp before a week. I think, however, not so soon.
There are about fifty students in the company also some who are not students. We drill regularly every day; we were out on parade last Saturday and the citizens who saw us say we are the best-drilled company and make the best appearance of any company that has left, or is in the County. The Officers of the company are—
Ira Ayer, Captain, of New York;[3]
S. B. Smith, 1st Lieut., of Tennessee;[4]
Prof. Hennig, L.L.D.,, 2nd Lieut.;[5]
J. R. Mills, 1st Sergt., of Pittsburgh;[6]
E. A. Ludwick, 2nd Sergt., of Pittsburgh
A. Ashley, 3rd Sergt., of Braddock’s Field;
Of these all are members of the Church except one and four have license to preach. The Captain is an able-bodied man of about 26 years of age who has served in the Military of his state for five years. He understands military tactics well.
I will write next week and let you know how affairs are prospering. Nothing more at present. Yours affectionately, J. D. C.
Next posting: June 25, 2011
Jonathan E. Helmreich
College Historian
Allegheny College
Meadville, PA 16335
[1] The second oldest of James’s younger brothers, born January 21, 1843, Miles was then 18 years of age. He may have been a student at the college preparatory school run by Allegheny College and its faculty on its campus. He became a graduate of Allegheny College with the class of 1867.
[2] Samuel Penniman Bates, a Meadville native and Deputy State Superintendent of Education, had many contacts in Harrisburg and knew the governor. He would become noted for his histories of the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg and of Erie and Crawford counties in Pennsylvania. A key resource to this day is his History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5; Prepared in Compliance with Acts of the Legislature, 14 vols., first published in 1869-71 and republished in 1993-94 in Wilmington, NC by the Broadfoot Publishing Company.
[3] The students elected their officers on April 20. Ira Ayer was a sturdy Biblical department scholar who had previously served in the New York State militia in a unit of which his father was colonel.
[4] Sion B. Smith and his brother, James W., from Alexandria, TN, were orphaned as youths and raised by their uncle and aunt. Influenced by a school teacher who had attended Allegheny, they chose to do likewise. Technically they were slave holders, for they inherited their parents’ few slaves who labored for their uncle. James, a graduate of Allegheny in 1860, was instrumental in the recruitment in the summer of 1862 from the Meadville area of Company B, 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry, 163rd Regiment, called the “College Cavalry” by local papers.
[5] George Hennig was a German instructor at the college. In October 1861 he resigned from the company due to “force of circumstances” that may have been related to language difficulties. The company on the last day of the month approved a resolution of tribute to Hennig.
[6] James Mills, like the next two persons listed, Ephraim Ludwick and Alexander Ashley, were juniors at the college.