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The Yeager Family in the Civil War (Part 10) – Capt. Frederick M. Yeager
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on June 24, 2015
In 1912, the Hon. James Martin Yeager wrote and published A Brief History of the Yeager, Buffington, Creighton, Jacobs, Lemon, Hoffman and Woodside Families and Their Collateral Kindred of Pennsylvania. Yeager was formerly the President of Drew Seminary for Young Women of Carmel, New York as well as a former Member of the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania and a Marshal of the Middle District of Pennsylvania. On pages 82-85, he presented a list of Pennsylvania soldiers he identified with the Yeager surname who had fought in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865. In addition to the names of the soldiers, he named the regiment and company in which they fought. Sixty-three veterans were thus identified. A free download of Yeager’s book can be obtained at the Internet Archive.
There is much information still to be discovered about each of the veterans. Readers of this blog are urged to add information to what is provided below – particularly genealogical information about each of the men, including the names of their parents and their decent from the earliest Yeager’s who arrived in Pennsylvania. Additional stories about the Civil War service of these veterans is also sought, particularly if readers have access to the pension application files and military records from the National Archives. Pictures are especially welcome! Comments can be added to this post or sent by e-mail.
This post continues a multi-part series on these Pennsylvanians with the Yeager surname who served in the Civil War. Today’s post features Capt. Frederick M. Yeager, who was captured and held at Libby Prison during the war.
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Frederick M. Yeager (1840-1920)
This information from pages 38-39 of the History of the Yeager Family (cited above):
Frederick M. Yeager, son of Amos B. Yeager, Captain of Company C, 128th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers [128th Pennsylvania Infantry], [was] born 17 June 1840. Under the proclamation of Abraham Lincoln, 16 April 1861, for seventy-five thousand troops, as a member of the Ringgold Light Artillery, he left Reading, Pennsylvania, 16 April 1861, at 6 a.m., arriving at Harrisburg at 8 a.m. – the first company in the United States to report for duty. On 18 April 1861, they marched through the mob at Baltimore and were the first troops that entered the capital, for which the State of Pennsylvania gave them medals of honor. In 1862 he took an active part in recruiting six companies for the 128th Regiment P. V., and was 1st Lieutenant of Company K. At the Battle of Antietam, his regiment lost in killed and wounded one hundred and thirty-nine officers and men. He was promoted from 1st Lieutenant of Company K to Captain of Company C, and was at the Battle of Chancellorsville, on the evening of 2 May 1863, when Stonewall Jackson drove the 11th Corps from their position. His regiment was attached to the 12th Corps and his company was the extreme right of the 12th Corps. They joined the left of the 11th Corps at the Plank Road, and when the 11th stampeded, they opened a right oblique fire. Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded in the fight and his regiment lost two hundred and thirteen, killed, wounded and missing, and Captain Yeager was taken prisoner and confined in the Libby Prison. He is at present [1912] Commander of McLean Post No. 16, G.A.R., one of the largest posts in the state.
Capt. Frederick M. Yeager died on 17 Jul 1920 and is buried at the Charles Evans Cemetery, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Further information on him can be seen at his Findagrave Memorial.
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