This Mighty Scourge

David Acheson was born in Washington, Pennsylvania on January 10, 1841.  He was the third of nine children born to Alexander and Jane Acheson (Wishart).  With the outbreak of the Civil War, the Acheson boys began enlisting in the army.  John Acheson, the oldest of the Acheson boys, enlisted in the 85th Pennsylvania Infantry regiment on November 14, 1861.  John would be promoted to the rank of captain, in Company A, on February 29, 1864.  He would serve through the end of the Civil War, reaching the rank of brevet major.  David would enlist in the 140th Pennsylvania Infantry, as captain of Company C, on August 22, 1862.  Alexander (Sandie), David’s younger brother, would enlist in the 140th Pennsylvania on the same day.  Sandie would serve his entire three year enlistment, mustering out on December 9, 1864, with a rank of captain.

Captain Acheson would be well regarded by the soldiers in his company.  Through his leadership, drilling and training he would earn their trust.(i)  After a brief stint guarding the North Central Railroad the 140th Pennsylvania would be assigned to the V Corps, Middle Department, reporting to Falmouth, Virginia on December 15, 1862.  Arriving too late to participate in the debacle at Fredericksburg, the first major action the 140th would participate in would be at Chancellorsville, April 30 – May 6, 1863.  Having been transferred to the Third Brigade, First Division of US Major General Darius Couch’s II Corps, Acheson would see hard action at Chancellorsville.(ii)  US Major General Joseph Hooker’s Army of the Potomac would be brutally repulsed, retreating north across the Rappahannock River.

In June, CS General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia would take the war north of the Mason-Dixon Line.  Arriving in Pennsylvania, in late June, Lee would be opposed by a new Federal commander, US Major General George Gordon Meade.  All roads pointed to Gettysburg, where from July 1–3, 1863, 160,000 men would give battle.  On the second day of battle, new II Corps commander, US Major General Winfield S. Hancock would be ordered to support US Major General Daniel E. Sickles’ III Corps which was nearly a mile out of position.  US Brigadier General John Caldwell’s First Division would be sent to support the III Corps.  Captain David Acheson’s Company C, 140th Pennsylvania would be part of US Brigadier General Samuel Zook’s Third Brigade.  They would be sent through the retreating remnants of Sickles’ III Corps, into a rapidly advancing enemy.  Acheson, leading from the front, would be shot twice by a soldier in the 3d South Carolina Infantry.  Unfortunately, due to the speed of the approaching Confederates, Acheson’s mortally wounded body would be left on the field.  When the Confederates retreated, on July 3, Acheson’s body was recovered, and buried on the John T. Weikert Farm.  One of his soldiers carved his initials in a small boulder used as a temporary headstone.  Acheson would be re-buried near his home, in Washington, Pennsylvania, on July 15, 1863.  Fortunately the carved boulder allowed his family to find his remains.  Five years later, a member of Company C returned to Gettysburg.(iii)  Finding the boulder used as Acheson’s temporary headstone, he carved the initials deeper into the rock, allowing future generations to know where Acheson was originally buried.

Captain David Acheson served with distinction at Gettysburg, and is a true American HERO.

(i) Captain David Acheson: 140th Pennsylvania used to research this article.
(ii) The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System was used to research this article.
(iii) U.S. Civil War Soldiers Records and Profiles, from Ancestry.com, was used to research this article.

James Trimble Brown(i) was born in Pulaski, Tennessee on February 25, 1842.  Born to Neill S. Brown and Mary Anne Trimble, he was well educated by his parents.  His father was governor of Tennessee, during the Mexican War.  He would become a school teacher in Nashville.  His uncle, John C. Brown, was a major general in the Confederate Army of Tennessee. 

With the outbreak of the Civil War, young “Trim” Brown, then 19, entered the Confederate service as a 1st Lieutenant in the artillery.  During the war he would serve in all three branches of the Confederate military.  In 1862, having learned that Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest was organizing a cavalry brigade to operate in central Tennessee – where his home was located - he lobbied Major Baxter Smith to join the staff of his 8th Tennessee Cavalry regiment.  Smith later said, to The Daily American (Nashville, Tennessee), “because of my knowledge and admiration for his father and the family,” he was placed on his staff.

In July 1862, Forrest was ordered to Murfreesboro, Tennessee to seize the Federal garrison stationed there (approximately 940 men), commanded by US Brigadier Thomas T. Crittenden.(ii)  The garrison was a supply depot for the Federal Army of the Ohio, commanded by US Major General Don Carlos Buell.  Situated on the important Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, it was of strategic importance to the Army of the Ohio.  Attacking the garrison before dawn, on July 13, Forrest surprised the Federal troops, over running the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry.  During the ensuing battle, the Confederate cavalry was facing stiff opposition from the 3rd Minnesota Infantry, supporting a battery of four cannon.  Bedford Forrest, asked Smith if his cavalry could capture the hastily formed enemy line.  Smith, after looking towards his staff, determined they could and answered affirmatively.  He stated that “Trim” Brown looked like he was, “eager for the fray.”  Advancing rapidly, they captured the position, leading to a complete Confederate victory at the battle of First Murfreesboro.  Baxter Smith later said of Trim’s performance, “No one on that memorable day bore himself more gallantly or acted his part better.”(iii)

In September 1862, Trim Brown was appointed aide-de-camp of his uncle’s infantry brigade.  He performed well in the battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga.  The following year, Trim would return to the cavalry, of the Army of Tennessee, as assistant adjutant general, a position he would hold through the end of the Civil War.  He would receive brevet promotion to captain, however he would never be confirmed by the government.  His final rank would be first lieutenant, the same rank he was appointed to at the start of the war.

Brown would return to Nashville after the war, marrying Jane Foster Nichol.  They would have two sons and a daughter.  Becoming a lawyer, his ambition would earn him a reputation as one of the best attorneys in Nashville.  In 1878, Trim would run for district attorney.  On May 31, while attending Decoration Day festivities (honoring Union dead from the Civil War), he would become ill, supposedly from the heat.  His condition would worsen and he would die while being cared for by his brother-in-law, a local physician.  He was 36 years old.  A local attorney compared him to President Andrew Jackson, “In war he exhibited the heroism of a soldier.  He possessed as high an order of courage as ever characterized the Hero of Hermitage, and was as knightly and heroic in his bearing.”(iv)

His funeral was large and well attended.  It included a procession of the local militia, of which Trim was a member, two large guns and his rider-less horse followed the hearse.  The helmet he had worn rested on the horn of his saddle.  Lieutenant James Trimble Brown was interred at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.  He is a true American HERO, having fought bravely for the cause he believed in.

(i) James Trimble Brown, at Ancestry.com, was used to research this article.
(ii) Battle of Murfreesboro I, at Wikipedia, was used to research this article.
(iii) Coddington, Ronald S., Faces of the Confederacy, published by The Johns Hopkins University Press in 2008, Pg. 39.
(iv) Coddington, Ronald S., Faces of the Confederacy, published by The Johns Hopkins University Press in 2008, Pg. 41.

The 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry would be organized in Philadelphia between July, and August, 1861.  They would be promptly moved to Washington D.C. and assigned to US Brigadier General Fitz John Porter’s Division, in the Army of the Potomac.

In September 1862, the 3rd would take part in the Maryland Campaign and would fight at Antietam.  In December 1862, the regiment would participate in the Battle of Fredericksburg.     

In February, 1863, with the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac’s cavalry, into one cavalry corps, the 3rd Pennsylvania would be assigned to the Second Brigade (Colonel John B McIntosh) of the Second Division (Brigadier General William Averell) of Brigadier General George Stoneman’s Cavalry Corps.  The 3rd would participate in the cavalry engagement at Kelly’s Ford, on March 17, as the Army of the Potomac participated in St. Patrick’s Day festivities.

In early June 1863, with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia pushing north, the 3rd Pennsylvania would be engaged in the cavalry fight at Brandy Station (Fleetwood Hill).   The regiment would take part in actions against CS Major General J.E.B. Stuart, as he pushed north, east of the Shenandoah Mountains, including Aldie, Upperville and Westminster.

Arriving at Gettysburg, they would take part in the fighting at Brinkerhoff’s Ridge, on July 2, 1863.  In command of the regiment was Lieutenant Colonel Edward S. Jones.  Fighting both Confederate cavalry, and the famed Stonewall Brigade, the 3rd would be pressed hard at a stone wall.  As Lieutenant William Brooke-Rawle tells, “The wall was the key to our position, as both the enemy and ourselves at once perceived.” ¹  On July 3, the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry would be involved in the fighting at the East Cavalry Field, and suffered severely.  After Gettysburg, the 3rd would participate in the action as the Federal Army pushed south after Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, including Auburn and Bristoe Station.  Closing out 1863, they would be engaged in the battles of the Mine Run campaign.

¹ Wittenberg, Protecting the Flank: The Battles for Brinkerhoff’s Ridge and East Cavalry Field, p. 36.