UNION CIVIL WAR SOLDIER. SERVED IN BAT.H, 2ND ART. 112TH REG.PA. VOL.∼From the Hess Family Genealogy:
Rev. George A. Campbell was born July 25, 1845. At the age of seventeen years, on September 11, 1862, he enlisted in Battery H, Second Artillery, 112th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, for three years' service. The regiment was at first stationed at the defences around Washington, D.C., for about eighteen months. In the Spring of 1864 the regiment was put in motion, and participated in a number of desperate engagements: the battle of the Wilderness, Va., May 5 and 6, 1864; battle of Cold Harbor, Va., June 1, 1864, and the siege of Petersburg, Va., which began June 15, 1864, where the command was under constant heavy fire, day and night, for over three months. At the battle of Chapin's Farm, Va., September 29, 1864, in a charge on Fort Gilmore, on James River, near Richmond, Va., George, with a number of comrades, was captured, and after being confined in "Libby" and "Belle Isle" prisons, at Richmond, Va., for a short time, they were taken to Salisbury, North Carolina, where they were confined in an open stockade, and obliged to lie on the cold, frozen ground all winter, with scarcely any shelter, insufficient clothing, and very little food to eat. Their rations consisted of corn-meal ground with the cob, one pint at a time; very often the men got nothing for two or three days, and on several occasions they were compelled to fast for four days. During their incarceration, which lasted nearly five months, the prisoners received meat in the shape of ox-snout several times - three snouts being divided among one hundred men. On two occasions raw beef stomachs, just emptied of their contents, were served - three of them to feed one hundred men. Cats, and even rats, if caught in the fetid pen, were quickly dispatched, and greedily devoured by the starving prisoners. In their desperation for food, some of the men even nibbled entire nails from their fingers. In their ragged and filthy condition, the men suffered many horrors, making life almost intolerable. For want of proper and sufficient food, great numbers died from hunger, and from diseases contracted through cold, exposure, filth and contagion. Through the months of December and January of the memorable winter, the number of deaths averaged about fifty a day; the bodies without coffins were loaded on "dead-carts," piled up like cord wood, hauled out, thrown into a trench and covered with earth. Of the 10,000 men confined at Salisbury during that winter, by the time the prison doors were thrown open, on February 22, 1865, only 4500 survived. A record kept by a sergeant who was confined there, shows that 12,684 interments were made from September 1, 1863, until February 22, 1865 - a period of eighteen months. It is utterly impossible to describe the misery and suffering the men endured.
In an attempt to escape from the prison pen, on November 25, 1864, by making a rush on the guards with stones, George was shot in the side by one of them; the ball lodging between the ribs, was afterwards removed by a surgeon. After his release from prison he was taken, with many other prisoners, to Union lines at Wilmington, N.C., in box cars, and part of the distance on foot, the trip consuming about two weeks, and from there transported by steamer to parole camp, at Annapolis, Md., where he was taken very sick. After recovering a month or more later, he was sent home on furlough for thirty days; thence returned to army camp at Spring Mills, Montgomery County, Pa., and later to Philadelphia, where he was finally mustered out of service, June 14, 1865, and returned home very much broken down in health. Mr. Campbell experienced hardships seldom known to a youth in his "teens."
After recovering his health he became apprentice to learn the shoemaker trade, which he followed several years, and then commenced truck farming at the old homestead, which he purchased after his mother's death. In 1876 he became deeply interested in religious work, and being connected with the Mennonite Brethren in Christ, he was licensed to preach the gospel in 1887. His first appointment was Quakertown and Hatfield charge, which he served for three years. He was then transferred to Westmoreland, Armstrong and Blair Counties, Pa., for two years. Returning to his native county, he was appointed successively to Reading, Pa., three years; Quakertown and Hatfield, Pa., two years; Siegfried, Pa., one year; Grater's Ford, Pa., four years; Terre Hill, Lancaster Co., Pa., two years, and Walnutport, Northampton County, Pa., three years, after which, in 1907, he retired on account of failing health, having served in the ministry for twenty years. He then took up residence at Quakertown, Pa., where he died suddenly on November 7, 1911, and was buried in Springfield Cemetery. His wife, Helena S. Mann, whom he married Sept. 28, 1867, was born at Pleasant Valley, Bucks County, Pa., November 10, 1847. Five children were born to them.
Rev. George A. Campbell was born July 25, 1845. At the age of seventeen years, on September 11, 1862, he enlisted in Battery H, Second Artillery, 112th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, for three years' service. The regiment was at first stationed at the defences around Washington, D.C., for about eighteen months. In the Spring of 1864 the regiment was put in motion, and participated in a number of desperate engagements: the battle of the Wilderness, Va., May 5 and 6, 1864; battle of Cold Harbor, Va., June 1, 1864, and the siege of Petersburg, Va., which began June 15, 1864, where the command was under constant heavy fire, day and night, for over three months. At the battle of Chapin's Farm, Va., September 29, 1864, in a charge on Fort Gilmore, on James River, near Richmond, Va., George, with a number of comrades, was captured, and after being confined in "Libby" and "Belle Isle" prisons, at Richmond, Va., for a short time, they were taken to Salisbury, North Carolina, where they were confined in an open stockade, and obliged to lie on the cold, frozen ground all winter, with scarcely any shelter, insufficient clothing, and very little food to eat. Their rations consisted of corn-meal ground with the cob, one pint at a time; very often the men got nothing for two or three days, and on several occasions they were compelled to fast for four days. During their incarceration, which lasted nearly five months, the prisoners received meat in the shape of ox-snout several times - three snouts being divided among one hundred men. On two occasions raw beef stomachs, just emptied of their contents, were served - three of them to feed one hundred men. Cats, and even rats, if caught in the fetid pen, were quickly dispatched, and greedily devoured by the starving prisoners. In their desperation for food, some of the men even nibbled entire nails from their fingers. In their ragged and filthy condition, the men suffered many horrors, making life almost intolerable. For want of proper and sufficient food, great numbers died from hunger, and from diseases contracted through cold, exposure, filth and contagion. Through the months of December and January of the memorable winter, the number of deaths averaged about fifty a day; the bodies without coffins were loaded on "dead-carts," piled up like cord wood, hauled out, thrown into a trench and covered with earth. Of the 10,000 men confined at Salisbury during that winter, by the time the prison doors were thrown open, on February 22, 1865, only 4500 survived. A record kept by a sergeant who was confined there, shows that 12,684 interments were made from September 1, 1863, until February 22, 1865 - a period of eighteen months. It is utterly impossible to describe the misery and suffering the men endured.
In an attempt to escape from the prison pen, on November 25, 1864, by making a rush on the guards with stones, George was shot in the side by one of them; the ball lodging between the ribs, was afterwards removed by a surgeon. After his release from prison he was taken, with many other prisoners, to Union lines at Wilmington, N.C., in box cars, and part of the distance on foot, the trip consuming about two weeks, and from there transported by steamer to parole camp, at Annapolis, Md., where he was taken very sick. After recovering a month or more later, he was sent home on furlough for thirty days; thence returned to army camp at Spring Mills, Montgomery County, Pa., and later to Philadelphia, where he was finally mustered out of service, June 14, 1865, and returned home very much broken down in health. Mr. Campbell experienced hardships seldom known to a youth in his "teens."
After recovering his health he became apprentice to learn the shoemaker trade, which he followed several years, and then commenced truck farming at the old homestead, which he purchased after his mother's death. In 1876 he became deeply interested in religious work, and being connected with the Mennonite Brethren in Christ, he was licensed to preach the gospel in 1887. His first appointment was Quakertown and Hatfield charge, which he served for three years. He was then transferred to Westmoreland, Armstrong and Blair Counties, Pa., for two years. Returning to his native county, he was appointed successively to Reading, Pa., three years; Quakertown and Hatfield, Pa., two years; Siegfried, Pa., one year; Grater's Ford, Pa., four years; Terre Hill, Lancaster Co., Pa., two years, and Walnutport, Northampton County, Pa., three years, after which, in 1907, he retired on account of failing health, having served in the ministry for twenty years. He then took up residence at Quakertown, Pa., where he died suddenly on November 7, 1911, and was buried in Springfield Cemetery. His wife, Helena S. Mann, whom he married Sept. 28, 1867, was born at Pleasant Valley, Bucks County, Pa., November 10, 1847. Five children were born to them.
UNION CIVIL WAR SOLDIER. SERVED IN BAT.H, 2ND ART. 112TH REG.PA. VOL.∼From the Hess Family Genealogy:
Rev. George A. Campbell was born July 25, 1845. At the age of seventeen years, on September 11, 1862, he enlisted in Battery H, Second Artillery, 112th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, for three years' service. The regiment was at first stationed at the defences around Washington, D.C., for about eighteen months. In the Spring of 1864 the regiment was put in motion, and participated in a number of desperate engagements: the battle of the Wilderness, Va., May 5 and 6, 1864; battle of Cold Harbor, Va., June 1, 1864, and the siege of Petersburg, Va., which began June 15, 1864, where the command was under constant heavy fire, day and night, for over three months. At the battle of Chapin's Farm, Va., September 29, 1864, in a charge on Fort Gilmore, on James River, near Richmond, Va., George, with a number of comrades, was captured, and after being confined in "Libby" and "Belle Isle" prisons, at Richmond, Va., for a short time, they were taken to Salisbury, North Carolina, where they were confined in an open stockade, and obliged to lie on the cold, frozen ground all winter, with scarcely any shelter, insufficient clothing, and very little food to eat. Their rations consisted of corn-meal ground with the cob, one pint at a time; very often the men got nothing for two or three days, and on several occasions they were compelled to fast for four days. During their incarceration, which lasted nearly five months, the prisoners received meat in the shape of ox-snout several times - three snouts being divided among one hundred men. On two occasions raw beef stomachs, just emptied of their contents, were served - three of them to feed one hundred men. Cats, and even rats, if caught in the fetid pen, were quickly dispatched, and greedily devoured by the starving prisoners. In their desperation for food, some of the men even nibbled entire nails from their fingers. In their ragged and filthy condition, the men suffered many horrors, making life almost intolerable. For want of proper and sufficient food, great numbers died from hunger, and from diseases contracted through cold, exposure, filth and contagion. Through the months of December and January of the memorable winter, the number of deaths averaged about fifty a day; the bodies without coffins were loaded on "dead-carts," piled up like cord wood, hauled out, thrown into a trench and covered with earth. Of the 10,000 men confined at Salisbury during that winter, by the time the prison doors were thrown open, on February 22, 1865, only 4500 survived. A record kept by a sergeant who was confined there, shows that 12,684 interments were made from September 1, 1863, until February 22, 1865 - a period of eighteen months. It is utterly impossible to describe the misery and suffering the men endured.
In an attempt to escape from the prison pen, on November 25, 1864, by making a rush on the guards with stones, George was shot in the side by one of them; the ball lodging between the ribs, was afterwards removed by a surgeon. After his release from prison he was taken, with many other prisoners, to Union lines at Wilmington, N.C., in box cars, and part of the distance on foot, the trip consuming about two weeks, and from there transported by steamer to parole camp, at Annapolis, Md., where he was taken very sick. After recovering a month or more later, he was sent home on furlough for thirty days; thence returned to army camp at Spring Mills, Montgomery County, Pa., and later to Philadelphia, where he was finally mustered out of service, June 14, 1865, and returned home very much broken down in health. Mr. Campbell experienced hardships seldom known to a youth in his "teens."
After recovering his health he became apprentice to learn the shoemaker trade, which he followed several years, and then commenced truck farming at the old homestead, which he purchased after his mother's death. In 1876 he became deeply interested in religious work, and being connected with the Mennonite Brethren in Christ, he was licensed to preach the gospel in 1887. His first appointment was Quakertown and Hatfield charge, which he served for three years. He was then transferred to Westmoreland, Armstrong and Blair Counties, Pa., for two years. Returning to his native county, he was appointed successively to Reading, Pa., three years; Quakertown and Hatfield, Pa., two years; Siegfried, Pa., one year; Grater's Ford, Pa., four years; Terre Hill, Lancaster Co., Pa., two years, and Walnutport, Northampton County, Pa., three years, after which, in 1907, he retired on account of failing health, having served in the ministry for twenty years. He then took up residence at Quakertown, Pa., where he died suddenly on November 7, 1911, and was buried in Springfield Cemetery. His wife, Helena S. Mann, whom he married Sept. 28, 1867, was born at Pleasant Valley, Bucks County, Pa., November 10, 1847. Five children were born to them.
Rev. George A. Campbell was born July 25, 1845. At the age of seventeen years, on September 11, 1862, he enlisted in Battery H, Second Artillery, 112th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, for three years' service. The regiment was at first stationed at the defences around Washington, D.C., for about eighteen months. In the Spring of 1864 the regiment was put in motion, and participated in a number of desperate engagements: the battle of the Wilderness, Va., May 5 and 6, 1864; battle of Cold Harbor, Va., June 1, 1864, and the siege of Petersburg, Va., which began June 15, 1864, where the command was under constant heavy fire, day and night, for over three months. At the battle of Chapin's Farm, Va., September 29, 1864, in a charge on Fort Gilmore, on James River, near Richmond, Va., George, with a number of comrades, was captured, and after being confined in "Libby" and "Belle Isle" prisons, at Richmond, Va., for a short time, they were taken to Salisbury, North Carolina, where they were confined in an open stockade, and obliged to lie on the cold, frozen ground all winter, with scarcely any shelter, insufficient clothing, and very little food to eat. Their rations consisted of corn-meal ground with the cob, one pint at a time; very often the men got nothing for two or three days, and on several occasions they were compelled to fast for four days. During their incarceration, which lasted nearly five months, the prisoners received meat in the shape of ox-snout several times - three snouts being divided among one hundred men. On two occasions raw beef stomachs, just emptied of their contents, were served - three of them to feed one hundred men. Cats, and even rats, if caught in the fetid pen, were quickly dispatched, and greedily devoured by the starving prisoners. In their desperation for food, some of the men even nibbled entire nails from their fingers. In their ragged and filthy condition, the men suffered many horrors, making life almost intolerable. For want of proper and sufficient food, great numbers died from hunger, and from diseases contracted through cold, exposure, filth and contagion. Through the months of December and January of the memorable winter, the number of deaths averaged about fifty a day; the bodies without coffins were loaded on "dead-carts," piled up like cord wood, hauled out, thrown into a trench and covered with earth. Of the 10,000 men confined at Salisbury during that winter, by the time the prison doors were thrown open, on February 22, 1865, only 4500 survived. A record kept by a sergeant who was confined there, shows that 12,684 interments were made from September 1, 1863, until February 22, 1865 - a period of eighteen months. It is utterly impossible to describe the misery and suffering the men endured.
In an attempt to escape from the prison pen, on November 25, 1864, by making a rush on the guards with stones, George was shot in the side by one of them; the ball lodging between the ribs, was afterwards removed by a surgeon. After his release from prison he was taken, with many other prisoners, to Union lines at Wilmington, N.C., in box cars, and part of the distance on foot, the trip consuming about two weeks, and from there transported by steamer to parole camp, at Annapolis, Md., where he was taken very sick. After recovering a month or more later, he was sent home on furlough for thirty days; thence returned to army camp at Spring Mills, Montgomery County, Pa., and later to Philadelphia, where he was finally mustered out of service, June 14, 1865, and returned home very much broken down in health. Mr. Campbell experienced hardships seldom known to a youth in his "teens."
After recovering his health he became apprentice to learn the shoemaker trade, which he followed several years, and then commenced truck farming at the old homestead, which he purchased after his mother's death. In 1876 he became deeply interested in religious work, and being connected with the Mennonite Brethren in Christ, he was licensed to preach the gospel in 1887. His first appointment was Quakertown and Hatfield charge, which he served for three years. He was then transferred to Westmoreland, Armstrong and Blair Counties, Pa., for two years. Returning to his native county, he was appointed successively to Reading, Pa., three years; Quakertown and Hatfield, Pa., two years; Siegfried, Pa., one year; Grater's Ford, Pa., four years; Terre Hill, Lancaster Co., Pa., two years, and Walnutport, Northampton County, Pa., three years, after which, in 1907, he retired on account of failing health, having served in the ministry for twenty years. He then took up residence at Quakertown, Pa., where he died suddenly on November 7, 1911, and was buried in Springfield Cemetery. His wife, Helena S. Mann, whom he married Sept. 28, 1867, was born at Pleasant Valley, Bucks County, Pa., November 10, 1847. Five children were born to them.
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