;

Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

Was Henry B. Hoffman Excused from Military Service Because of a Diseased Eye?

| June 7, 2016

A family story, oft repeated but without any proof, was that Henry B. Hoffman of Millersburg was excused from Civil War military service because of a “diseased eye.”  Instead, he supposedly served on the staff of Gov. James Pollock at the rank of Colonel. An additional feature of this family story is that he served […]

John Peter Crabb – Raising Funds to Help Needy Comrades

| May 23, 2016

John Peter Crabb, Civil War veteran and native of Gratz, Pennsylvania, moved to Harrisburg after the Civil War, where he became a founder and Commander of Stevens Post No. 520, G.A.R.  He was previously profiled here, but not included in that article was a fair conducted by that post in 1889 for the purpose of […]

The Civil War Equestrian Statues at Philadelphia City Hall

| May 19, 2016

Today’s post is a photo essay on the two Civil War equestrian statues on the north side of Philadelphia’s City Hall.  Above is the “Museum Without Walls” marker describing the statues and below is the text of the marker: GENERAL GEORGE McCLELLAN 1891 Henry Jackson Ellicott (1841-1901) – Sculptor MAJOR GENERAL JOHN FULTON REYNOLDS 1884 […]

Jacob Hess, Buried at Berrysburg – Did He Serve in the Civil War?

| May 11, 2016

Jacob Hess is buried at Sweitzer’s Cemetery, Berrysburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.  According to his gravestone, he was born 31 July 1841, and died 20 February 1890.  His wife, Mary A. Hess is buried with him.  She was born 10 October 1847 and died 21 March 1929.   Also buried in the same plot, and named on […]

Jacob Zerby of Elizabethville – Cavalryman and Blacksmith

| May 6, 2016

Jacob Zerby, Civil war veteran of the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry, died on 19 November 1913.  His death was reported in the Harrisburg Telegraph of the next day: Elizabethville — Jacob Zerby, a member of Sherman’s Cavalry during his famous march “to the sea,” died of the infirmities of old age yesterday after a year’s illness […]