Such Hard and Severe Service: The 85th Pennsylvania in the Civil War. Volume II, 1864-1865

Volume I of this history of the 85th Pennsylvania Infantry ended with the regiment recovering from their arduous duties in South Carolina on Morris Island during the siege of Charleston and Fort Sumter in 1863. The 85th PA had fought at Seven Pines, Virginia and during the Goldsboro Expedition in North Carolina in 1862. By the time Volume II begins in early 1864, 177 soldiers had died from battlefield wounds or diseases; another 337 men had been dismissed from the regiment, mostly for medical reasons. Colonel Joshua B. Howell is recovering from a severe concussion and Lt. Colonel Henry A. Purviance has been killed. ~~~ Volume II begins with the regiment enjoying a brief break from their strenuous duties. The regiment conducted a one-day operation to Whitemarsh Island near Savannah in early 1864. They are soon stationed in the Bermuda Hundred peninsula of Virginia where they fought two battles before being sent across the James River towards Richmond to fight the Battle of Second Deep Bottom. Most of the regiment went home in late 1864 but about 150 stayed for epic confrontations at Fort Gregg near Petersburg and then played a vital role in Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Volume II also explores the diary of Captain Richard Dawson, and follows several dozen men from the regiment who performed guard duty on a large-scale prisoner exchange. The final chapter recounts the decades after the war in which the regiment held over 50 annual reunions throughout southwestern Pennsylvania.