The 48th Pennsylvania Infantry was recruited in
Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania and organized at
Camp Curtin in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, during August and September 1861. It was mustered into federal service there, by detachments, in mid-September. Many members of the regiment had seen prior service in at least three Pennsylvania units which had seen service as 'three-month term of enlistment' organizations - the
6th,
14th, and
25th Pennsylvania Infantry regiments. A large number of men in the regiment had been miners prior to the war. Initially equipped with smoothbore muskets which had been converted from flintlock to percussion, the regiment was then re-equipped with Enfield rifles in May 1862. The regiment first saw action on March 14, 1862, when six of its companies took part in the
Battle of New Bern,
North Carolina. The remainder of the regiment arrived in the area on May 23. The unit then moved to
Fort Monroe, Virginia, July 6–8, and on to
Fredericksburg August 2–4. At
Culpeper, Virginia, on August 13, the 48th Pennsylvania joined the
Army of Virginia under General
John Pope. It spent the next few weeks participating in the
Northern Virginia Campaign, seeing action at the
Second Battle of Bull Run (August 29–30) and the
Battle of Chantilly (September 1). The
Maryland Campaign followed through September and the unit took park in the Battles of
South Mountain (September 14) and
Antietam (September 16–17). At 4:44 a.m. on July 30, the charges exploded in a massive shower of earth, men, and guns. A crater (still visible today) was created, long, 60 to wide, and deep. The blast destroyed the Confederate fortifications in the immediate vicinity, and instantly killed between 250 and 350 Confederate soldiers. The 48th Pennsylvania participated in several further battles of the Petersburg campaign in 1864:
Globe Tavern (August 18–21),
Peebles's Farm (September 29–October 2), and
Boydton Plank Road (October 27–28). At the
Third Battle of Petersburg on April 2, 1865, regimental Surgeon
William R. D. Blackwood removed wounded comrades from the battlefield under heavy fire, for which he was later awarded the Medal of Honor. After occupying the city of Petersburg, the unit marched to
Farmville, Virginia, on April 3–9. The 48th Pennsylvania returned to the Petersburg and
City Point area on April 20–24, then moved on to
Alexandria, Virginia, on April 26–28. Following the end of the war, the regiment took part in the
Grand Review of the Armies in Washington, D.C., on May 23. The unit served at Washington and Alexandria until being mustered out on July 17, 1865. A monument was erected by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in Branch Avenue, Antietam Battlefield, MD to commemorate the services of the 48th Regiment, Pennsylvania Veteran volunteers and it was dedicated on September 17, 1904. Survivors of the 48th Regiment attended the dedication. Another monument was built and paid for by the 48th Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Association and given to the state of Virginia. The monument was dedicated on June 20, 1907, in Richmond, Virginia.[Story of the Forty-Eighth by Joseph Gould] == Total strength and casualties ==