James Barton Wiley was born in Ohio between 1836 and 1838. By 1850 he was living with his parents, Jacob and Mary Wiley, in Noble, Ohio. He was the oldest of seven siblings. He was the only son of Jacob and Mary. He would marry Catherine Coffee on February 2, 1854 in Noble County, Indiana. Together they would have three children: Mary Jane (1856), John M. (1859) and William S. (1862). Wiley would often go by his middle name on official records, including his marriage certificate and the 1860 Federal Census record which listed the Wiley residence in Baker, Indiana.(i)
With the outbreak of hostilities, Wiley would enlist as a private in Company H, 59th New York Infantry. His date of enlistment was September 20, 1861 at Bellville, Ohio. In speaking with a couple of his ancestors, this author has been unable to determine why he would enlist in a New York regiment when he lived in Indiana and entered the service in Ohio. The only logical conclusion is that Ohio had filled her volunteer requirements and the state had not authorized the formation of additional regiments by his enlistment date.
The 59th New York was officially mustered into Federal service in November 1861 and would leave New York City on November 23. Proceeding to Washington City they would serve in US Brigadier General James Wadsworth’s command, defending Washington, through May 1862. In July 1862 the 59th New York would join the Army of the Potomac and be assigned to the Third Brigade (Brigadier General Napoleon J.T. Dana), Second Division (US Major General John Sedgwick) of US Major General Edwin Sumner’s II Corps. Commanding the 59th New York was Colonel William L. Tidball. Leaving Washington City, they would join their new command at Harrison’s Landing on the James River Peninsula. By this time The Seven Days was over and the Army of the Potomac, commanded by US Major General George B. McClellan was preparing to leave Harrison’s Landing to return to Alexandria, Virginia. Private James Wiley would see no action while at Harrison’s Landing.(ii)
By August 28, 1862, the II Corps was located at Fairfax Court House, Virginia, and would be involved in covering US Major General John Pope’s retreating Army of Virginia from their rout at Second Manassas. After the defeat of Pope’s army, CSA General Robert E. Lee determined to invade the North in an effort to recruit troops and provide relief for wary Virginians who had suffered through nearly all of the fighting in the Eastern Theater. Pushing into Maryland during the first days of September, Lee would begin an effort to recruit Marylanders who were loyal to the Confederacy – an effort that turned out to be in vain.
Meanwhile, in Washington City, McClellan began to organize the remnants of Pope’s Army of Virginia using some of them to fill the ranks of his Army of the Potomac. A master of organization, McClellan quickly had his army back in shape. With intelligence mounting, that Lee had pushed into Maryland, McClellan quickly began planning his movements. On September 6, the Army of the Potomac left Washington, in several columns, to find Lee’s army. The first action of the Maryland Campaign would occur at South Mountain on September 14, when US Major General Joseph Hooker’s I Corps would engage portions of CSA Major Generals James Longstreet and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s army wings. The fighting at South Mountain would take place at Fox’s Gap, Crampton’s Gap and Turner’s Gap and would be intense. Hooker was severely pressed while trying to push through the gaps. The II Corps, including the 59th New York, would be sent to reinforce Hooker, but would arrive to find the I Corps alone at South Mountain – Lee having pulled his forces back.
On September 16, Sumner’s II Corps would be on the east side of Antietam Creek, facing the majority of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia (CSA Major General A.P. Hill’s Light Division was at Harpers Ferry) deployed around Sharpsburg, Maryland – just west of Antietam Creek. On the morning of September 17, Hooker’s I Corps, having crossed Antietam Creek north of the Confederates, pushed south towards the left flank of Lee’s forces. Pushing through the “Corn Field” they would be heavily engaged against Jackson’s Left Army Wing. With the fighting going back-and-forth, across the Corn Field, the I Corps would suffer terrible casualties. At 7:20 a.m., McClellan would order the II Corps to reinforce Hooker’s I Corps, and US Major General Joseph Mansfield’s XII Corps which had become engaged east of the Corn Field, near the North Woods. The plan was for Sumner’s II Corps to push towards the Dunker Church, slamming into the left of Jackson’s Confederate lines. Two of the II Corps divisions were to attack in force. Unfortunately, US Major General William H. French’s division would veer to the left instead of staying on Sedgwick’s Second Division’s left flank. This would leave the Second Division, including Wiley’s 59th New
York, unsupported as they pushed through the Corn Field towards the West Woods. Crossing the Hagerstown Pike, the general order was to keep the Dunker Church on their left, and rear. Pushing straight forward, the three brigades of Sedgwick’s division would not find the enemy in their front, but with their left flank refused and facing north into Sedgwick’s left flank. Confusion reigned throughout Sedgwick’s division and it became especially pronounced within Dana’s brigade. His troops, including Wiley’s 59th New York, were receiving heavy enemy fire from a direction they did not expect – their left - enfilading their lines. Additionally, the division was receiving heavy artillery fire from CSA Major General J.E.B. Stuart’s horse artillery located on a rocky rise to their right.(iii) Sumner, maintaining his composure, rode up and down his lines, encouraging his soldiers to remain steady. One of Dana’s soldiers wrote home describing Sumner’s actions, “We were completely flanked on the left and in two minutes more could have been prisoners of war if Gen Sumner himself had not rode in through a terrific fire of the enemy and brought us off……My men fell around me like dead flies on a frosty morning.”(iv) The 59th New York’s baptism of fire was harsh. The regiment did not handle themselves well. With the field shrouded by smoke, they fired unknowingly into the backs of the 15th Massachusetts Infantry. Not hearing the Massachusetts men yelling at them to cease firing, they would continue to fire into them until Sumner rode up and “cussed them out.” Sedgwick’s division was able to retreat across the Hagerstown Pike and reform. The fighting at Antietam would move south to the Bloody Lane, where the II Corps divisions of French and US Major General Israel Richardson would continue the fight. The fighting on the Federal right would diminish as the action at the Bloody Lane intensified. US Major General Ambrose Burnside’s IX Corps would attack on the far left, after which the Battle of Antietam sputtered to a close. Sergeant James Wiley, along with the 59th New York, had experienced their first major fighting, on a grand scale, at Antietam.
Wiley would continue to serve with the 59th New York through upcoming battles at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville – each being terrible Federal defeats. Once again, after the Battle of Chancellorsville, Robert E. Lee decided to invade the North. From July 1–3, 1863, the Army of the Potomac, commanded then by US Major General George Gordon Meade, would battle Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in the small southern Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg. US Major General Winfield S. Hancock now commanded the II Corps. The Second Division was now commanded by US Brigadier General John Gibbon with the Third Brigade being commanded by Colonel Norman J. Hall. The 59th New York was in Hall’s brigade and was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Max Thoman. Brigadier General John Caldwell’s First Division would see action on the
second day of Gettysburg, the other two divisions would not be involved. On the third day of battle, the II Corps other divisions, commanded by US Brigadier General Alexander Hays, and Gibbon, would see significant action during CSA Major General George E. Pickett’s famous charge. Positioned along Cemetery Ridge, Hays division held the II Corps right flank while Gibbon’s division held the left. Gibbon received some support from US Colonel Edmund Dana’s I Corps’ brigade. Pickett’s combined command, which included his 1st Corps Division and CSA Brigadier General J. Johnston Pettigrew’s Division and portions of CSA Major General Richard H. Anderson’s Division, both of the 3d Corps, totaled approximately 12,500 soldiers. After CSA Colonel E. Porter Alexander’s 1st Corps artillery bombarded the Federal lines for over an hour, Pickett’s troops dressed ranks along Seminary Ridge and pushed towards Hancock’s II Corps. It was approximately 3:00 p.m. Crossing the fields between Seminary Ridge and Cemetery Ridge, the Confederates would start to receive artillery shelling. Crossing a fence along the Emmittsburg Road, they pushed towards the Federal line, its soldiers well protected behind a stone wall. As they closed to within small arms range, they received a terrible storm of lead as the Federal infantry opened on them. The Confederate charge would be repulsed, with only a handful of regiments breaking through the II Corps’ line. The 59th New York would receive a direct assault from the 48th Georgia Infantry regiment.(v) During the hard fighting here, some of which was hand-to-hand, Wiley would capture the Georgia regiment’s battle flag. He would receive the Medal of Honor for his
actions at Gettysburg, on December 1, 1864. His citation reads, “Capture of flag of a Georgia regiment.”
Meade’s Army of the Potomac would repulse Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg, ending the bloodiest battle on American soil. Lee would retreat back into Virginia, with Meade’s army slowly pursuing them, essentially “nipping at their heels.”
Wiley, and the 59th New York Infantry, would continue to serve their country. They would be engaged in all the remaining battles in the eastern theater including Mine Run, the Overland Campaign, Petersburg Campaign and Appomattox Court House. On June 22, 1864, during the fighting at Jerusalem Plank Road, 1st Sergeant James Wiley would be captured. He would be sent south to the Confederate Prison at Camp Sumter – better known as Andersonville. He would suffer, with his fellow prisoners, from malnutrition, poor drinking water and exposure to the elements. On February 7, 1865, Wiley would die from dysentery – most likely never knowing he had been awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry at Gettysburg. James Barton Wiley is a true American HERO.
(i) James Barton Wiley, at Ancestery.com was used to research this article.
(ii) The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System was used to research this article.
(iii) Walker, Francis A., History of the Second Army Corps in the Army of the Potomac, Second Edition, published by Charles Scribner’s Sons in 1891, Pgs. 100–107.
(iv) Sears, Stephen W., Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam, published by Ticknor & Fields in 1983, Pgs. 227–228.
(v) Hess, Earl J., Pickett’s Charge: The Last Attack at Gettysburg, published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2001, Pg. 91.
Patrick DeLacey was born on November 25, 1835 near Carbondale, Pennsylvania. Not much is known about DeLacey’s early life and education. DeLacey would enlist in Company A, 143d Pennsylvania Infantry on August 26, 1862.(i) His rank upon enlistment was sergeant. The 143d would organize at Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and officially muster into Federal service on October 18, 1862.(ii)
the cut, in an effort to flank the Federal I Corps. Unfortunately the walls of the cut proved to high to allow accurate musket fire, or artillery support. Pushing through the cut, the Confederates became easy targets for the Federal regiments arrayed on the south bank of the cut. The 14th Brooklyn, 95th New York and the 6th Wisconsin opened a withering fire on the soldiers trapped in the cut. Many of the Confederates surrendered, but plenty determined to fight their way out. The fighting devolved to hand-to-hand combat. During the hardest fighting, Waller engaged the color bearer of the 2nd Mississippi Infantry, Corporal William B. Murphy. The two would fight gallantly for the cherished flag. Waller triumphed, killing Murphy and securing the Mississippi colors. For his brave, and selfless actions, Waller would be awarded the Medal of Honor. During the fighting at Gettysburg, the Iron Brigade would suffer 1,212 casualties of the 1,883 soldiers (64%) that arrived at McPherson’s Ridge.(ii)
Henry H. Taylor was born in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, near Galena, on July 4, 1841, to John W. Taylor and Temperance Stringfield. Taylor would enlist, on May 9, 1861, after Abraham Lincoln’s call for 75,000 state militia, after the firing on Fort Sumter. He would be assigned to the 45th Illinois Infantry on November 20, 1861. The regiment would officially be mustered into Federal service on December 25, 1861, at Camp Douglas, Illinois.(i)
James Milton Pipes was born in Dotysburg, Pennsylvania on November 10, 1840.(i) The son of Washington Pipes, and Cynthia Clark, his great-grandfather was Captain John Pipes, Jr., a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Very little is known about the early life of James.

field, as he could not rise. The rebels, who were very close upon us, called, ‘Halt, you damned Yankees, Halt!’ We however, carried this comrade some thirty of forty steps and placed him behind some large boulders where he would have protection from the fire from both sides, and being trampled upon.
John Winfield Scott was born in Mississippi, in approximately 1825. In 1862 Scott was a merchant in New Orleans. With the outbreak of the Civil War he would enlist as a private, in the 5th Company of the famed Washington Artillery, of Louisiana.
William B. Hincks was born in either 1841, or 1842, in Maine. He would later move to Bridgeport, Connecticut. On July 22, 1862, at either 19 or 20 years of age, young William would enlist in the 14th Connecticut Infantry. He would officially muster into service at Hartford, Connecticut, on August 23, 1862. The 14th, commanded by Colonel Dwight Morris, would arrive in Washington, D.C., on August 25, and would be placed in the Second Brigade, Third Division (US Brigadier General William French) of US Major General 

William Harvey Carney was born on February 29, 1840, as a slave, in Norfolk, Virginia. Like his father, before him, Carney was able to escape, to Massachusetts, using the Underground Railroad. At the start of the Civil War, Carney was a free man, living in the Boston area. With Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, taking effect on January 1, 1863, Carney enlisted in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry – the famed “colored” regiment, as a sergeant. Organized in Readville, Massachusetts, the 54th would be mustered into Federal service on May 13, 1863. The commander of the 54th was US Colonel Robert S. Gould. Shaw was handpicked, by Massachusetts Governor John Andrew, to lead this famed regiment. Leaving Boston, on May 28, 1863, they would be assigned to the X Corps at Hilton Head, South Carolina. Carney, and his regiment would arrive at St. Simon’s Island on June 9. Moving to Morris Island, from July 16–18, they would prepare for the assault on Fort Wagner.
injury. Looking around, Ginley found that he was alone, except for a lone cannon. Ginley, and another Federal soldier charged towards the gun, without being seen by the Rebels. With battle smoke partially hiding them, they were able to get to the gun. It was at this time that they were seen by a Confederate, and told to get away from the gun. Not moving, Ginley’s companion was shot dead. Hiding behind the gun, Ginley was somewhat protected. Pulling on the lanyard, the big gun bucked and emptied its contents into the Confederates on the breastworks – mowing a swath through them, and scattering many of them. During the confusion, Ginley was able to escape, running most of the way across a field, before the Rebels knew he had escaped. With yells from the enemy, and their bullets whizzing by him, and cheers from the Federals who had witnessed his heroism, Ginley made it back to his lines. The young Irishman was not done. Grabbing a flag, from a dead color bearer, and a saber, he ran back, and forth, across the front, rallying the Federal troops, carrying canister for the guns and in many cases actually firing the cannons. His wild actions steadied the troops around him and brought them together in fighting order. With a volley, from an advancing group of Massachusetts troops, the Rebels scattered. Ginley with a cheer planted the flag on the ramparts as the “boys in blue” swarmed over the works, after the Confederates.
volunteer for service, mustering into Company C, 48th New York Infantry. The 48th New York would be assigned to the Second Brigade, Second Division of the U.S. Army X Corps. Hibson, and the rest of the 48th New York would be involved in the capture of Fort Pulaski, in April 1862. On July 13, 1863, the 44th New York would take part in the assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina. He would expose himself to severe danger, avoid being captured and would be severely wounded. Hibson would receive the Congressional Medal of Honor on October 23, 1897.