Pennsylvania Game News - April 2023 - 25

Thomas Jefferson Stephenson of Elk
County was so disappointed in the gun's
performance that he had his personal rifle,
nicknamed " Horace Warner, " delivered
from his home along Silver Creek some
125 miles away.
In the end, the regiment settled on
.58-caliber rifles. Thus armed, it became
one of the most successful combat units
of the Union army.
Known for their sharpshooting prowess,
the men of the northern wilds took
on many names. They were labeled, at
different times, the 13th Regiment of the
Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, the First
Pennsylvania Rifles or simply " Kane's
Rifles. " Upon officially joining the federal
army, they became the 42nd Pennsylvania
Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
But throughout their service they were
best known as the deadly accurate " Pennsylvania
Bucktails. "
In summer of 1861 the Bucktails
embarked on one of the most impressive
displays of combat service in the history
of the Civil War. After initially serving
outside Cumberland, Md., the Bucktails
joined the Army of the Potomac and
participated in the battles of Mechanicsville,
Gaines' Mill and Glendale during
the 1862 Peninsula Campaign. Later that
year the riflemen took part in some of
the fiercest combat of the war at Second
Manassas, South Mountain, Antietam and
Fredericksburg. In 1863, the 42nd fought
in the Battle of Gettysburg - still the
single largest battle in the history of the
Western Hemisphere - valiantly defendAt
left, a collection of photos showing some
of the Pennsylvania Bucktails who returned
home after the Civil War. They are: 1.) William
H. Rauch, 2.) Henry H. Taggart, 3.) J. Elliott
Kratzer, 4.) Firmin F. Kirk, 5.) Thomas Furlong,
6.) B. Frank Wright, 7.) Thomas H. Ryan, 8.)
Wallace W. Brewer, and 9.) Cornelius J. Smith.
APRIL 2023
ing key Union positions at Cemetery
Ridge, Plum Run and the Wheat Field.
As the war dragged on into 1864,
the regiment continued fighting, seeing
action at Spotsylvania and the Wilderness.
In all, the Pennsylvania Bucktails
participated in 15 of 16 major battles
contested in the Eastern Theater of the
war. They missed only the disastrous
Union defeat at Chancellorsville in spring
of 1863.
PROUD LEGACY
The Pennsylvania Bucktails valiantly
served the cause of freedom during the
American Civil War, completing their
service on May 31, 1864. Of the 1,200
men that served in the regiment, 255
never returned home.
Revered for its bravery long after the
war, the regiment is still considered the
most lethal and valorous sharpshooter
unit of the Army of the Potomac. The
skills of its members were honed while
hunting large game in the forests of the
Pennsylvania wilds.
Upon the Bucktails' return to the
Commonwealth, Gov. Curtin stood atop
the steps of the capitol in Harrisburg and
addressed the men.
" May you all find a happy welcome
to your homes, " he said. " May you ever
be marked as brave men who served
their country faithfully in times of great
peril. May you never regret that you
belonged to the Pennsylvania Reserve
Corps, fighting on every battlefield of
the Republic ... I bid you farewell ...
God be blessed! "
Brady J. Crytzer teaches history at
Robert Morris University, hosts " Battlefield
Pennsylvania " on PCN and is the
author of six books. He lives and hunts
outside of Pittsburgh.
25
Pennsylvania Game News - April 2023

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