54th Pennsylvania Infantry

G. Martin Pile was my gggrandfather. Lived in Somerset Co. PA at the time he enlisted. He was a chaplain. He began service in April 1864 under Col Joseph Thoburn. He was also under Gen. Sigel, Campbell, and Hunter. I have a diary he wrote about the battles of Cedar Creek, New Market, and Lynchburg. He mustered out September 3, 1864

Served 1/18/64 thru 8/19/65. Was at the battles of New Market, Lynchburg, Cedar Creek etc. Seeking info about this regiment, rosters, etc.

Cyrus Lohr was my great-grandfather. A native of Somerset County, Pa., he enlisted in September 1861 and was mustered in on October 10, 1861.(He was transferred to Co. H toward the end of the war.)The regiment was assigned to guard the B&O Railroad tracks along the Potomac, and in October 1862 rebel raiders captured Co.B at Paw Paw, W.Va. The POWs were confined for about six weeks in Libby Prison under threat of execution, then exchanged and released to their regiment. Lohr saw service in Hunter's, Sigel's and Sheridan's Shenandoah expeditions/campaigns and particpated in the Appomattox Campaign as part of the Army of the James. Confederate troops captured him and his small regiment at the Battle of High Bridge on April 6, 1865. Grant's victorious troops freed the prisoners a few days later; all were sent to Camp Parole in Annapolis, Md. Cyrus Lohr was discharged on May 31. He died in 1895 at age 53.

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1st SGT Cane served in both the 3d and 54th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiments from the 1st call for volunteers until his capture at High Bridge, VA near Appomattox C.H. in 1865. He was wounded at Cedar Creek, VA, but rejoined the Regiment in time for the final assault on Ft. Gregg, and the pursuit of Lee. He was transferred to Company F upon rejoining the Regiment. He was commissioned as a LT dating to 3 April, 1865, but never mustered in that rank. He died in Amarillo, Texas in 1917.

Captain Patrick Graham was Captain of Company E of the PA 54th Infantry. At the Batle of New Market he was shot in the left eye. His body was propped up against a tree. The commanding officer of the 54th reported him killed. During the night, he regained consciousness and coughed something into his hand. It was the bullet! It had gone through his eye and down his throat. He was taken prisoner of war and was held at 4 different camps for many months. At the last camp he had been befriended by the camp surgeon, Dr.Todd. When the Captain was set to be released, Dr Todd asked my 3rd Great Grandfather if he would stop by Washington, D.C. on his way home to Johnstown, PA to take a letter to his sister, Mrs Mary Todd Lincoln. The Captain delivered the letter and was still in Washington when President Lincoln was assassinated. Captain Patrick Graham returned to Johnstown and lived to be in his eighties. He was 44 years old when he left for the war.

Robert Smiley Graham was the son of Captain Patrick Graham of Company E of the 54th PA Infantry. He wanted to go with his father to war but was told he was too young. At age 11 he followed his father to Harrisburg and not knowing what to do with the young lad, they made him a drummer boy. When his father was captured, Robert Smiley continued on with the 54th. He was discharged at age 14. My cousin has his original discharge paper. He returned home and married at age 16, a 15 year old young lady. At one point his father was the oldest member of the local GAR unit and he was the youngest. We have pictures of both he and his wife wearing their GAR pins and stars. We also have pictures of him at Civil War reunions and he is always the youngest in the pictures.

He mustered in on 1-2-1861 as a musician. Buried in Wamego, Kansas.

Henry Andrew Matthias, is my 2nd great grandfather. He served in Company G 54th Pennsylvania Volunteers, from October 20, 1861, to January 18, 1865. He suffered many misfortunes, and mishaps during the war. On September 21, 1862, Stonewall Jackson's army had raided the camp of Company G, posted near the bridge at Back Creek, (West) Virginia. The company managed to put up a good fight, but had to fall back to Cherry Run. Later that day they regained their old camp to find much of the tents, and camp equipage gone or destroyed. He later incurred Rheumatism in October 1862, from sleeping on the ground with only a blanket. In December 1863, he was helping to unload the meal wagons, near Springfield, West Virginia, and fell on a patch of ice while carrying a quarter side of beef. This caused a severe hernia. In June 1864, while in General, David Hunter's Shenandoah Valley Raid on Lynchburg, he incurred Chronic Diarrhea. This disease would kill him twenty years after the war had ended. He is known to have fought in many campaigns in 1863, near Romney, West Virginia, and is known to have fought at the Battle of Cedar Creek, on October 19, 1864. Henry Andrew Matthias, died on January 21, 1885, and is buried at White Oak Evangelical (Temple) Cemetery, Larimer Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. He weighed less than 100 lbs. at the time of his death. He is buried beside his brother John Peter Matthias (1825-1901). He also served in the same company in the war.

Enlisted 18 Oct 1862 at Johnstown under Lt. Robinson. Mustered into service 26 Nov 1862 at Harrisburg for 3 years. He was wounded on 18 Jul 1864 near Snicker's Ford, VA (also listed as Snicker's Gap). He was discharged on 17 July 1865.

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