Civil War Pittsburgh

10/12/2026

On December 16, 1864, William Haberlin was killed in action during the Battle of Nashville, Tennessee.

He had mustered into service at Pittsburgh along with the rest of Independent Battery B, Pennsylvania Light Artillery in the autumn of 1861. Sometime after his enlistment, Haberlin penned a poem that was later discovered along with his photograph, providing a glimpse into his motivations for enlistment in the United States Army.

“Now to the field again I'll go, for the union to defend, until Jeff Davis is made to know, his kingdom is about to end.

And now if I would not live, to hear freemen shout for joy, this miniature to you I give, in memory of a soldier boy.”

10/09/2026

Happy Birthday to Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum!

On October 10, 1910 Oakland’s Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall opened its doors following a dedication ceremony held by veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Union Veterans Legion.

Among those present for the Memorial’s grand opening was former General Daniel Sickles, who sat center-stage in the hall’s auditorium.

10/05/2026

From our friends at The Center for Civil War Photography:

10/04/2026

An exciting update from our friends at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum!

10/02/2026

As an illustrator for Harpers Weekly, Alfred R. Waud’s name has become synonymous with battlefield sketch art in the Civil War’s Eastern Theater. In the years since the war’s end, his sketches from the fields of Gettysburg, Petersburg, and the Wilderness, among others, have been widely published.

Waud’s post-war career flourished as a result of his wartime work, and his resume included sketch work for William Cullen Bryant’s “Picturesque America,” which featured multiple depictions of mid 1870s Pittsburgh and Allegheny City. Among these sketches are views from North Side’s Monument Hill and The Point, as seen during the French and Indian War.

09/29/2026

On September 29, 1864 US forces under General Benjamin Butler attacked the defenses of Richmond in what came to be known as the Battle of New Market Heights, or Chaffin’s Farm.

Fourteen African American soldiers received the Medal of Honor for their actions that day, including Alexander Kelly, 6th United States Colored Troops (USCT), and James Bronson, 5th USCT.

Both who were residents of the Pittsburgh area in the years following the end of the war. Kelly is buried in East Liberty’s Saint Peters Cemetery while Bronson rests at Chartiers Cemetery in Carnegie. Their Medal of Honor citations read as follows:

Alexander Kelly -
“Gallantly seized the colors, which had fallen near the enemy's lines of abatis, raised them and rallied the men at a time of confusion and in a place of the greatest danger.”

James Bronson -
“Took command of his company, all the officers having been killed or wounded, and gallantly led it.”

09/25/2026

On September 25, 1913, 69-year-old William H. Scroggins wrote to the US Bureau of Pensions requesting an increase in his pension pay - a monetary appreciation for his services aboard the U.S.S. Nansemond during the Civil War.

The son of a former slave, Scroggins enlisted with the US Navy in late 1863 while working as a barber around the port of Baltimore. During his service aboard the Nansemond, Scroggins witnessed operations around Wilmington, North Carolina, including the January 1865 capture of a coastal Confederate stronghold - Fort Fisher.

After his discharge from the Navy in January 1865, the seafaring veteran relocated to Allegheny City where he spent the rest of his days. Prior to his death in 1916, Scroggins was described by one colleague as a “sober, industrious man of good moral habits.” He was buried with his family in a segregated section of United Cemetery, nestled along Ross Township’s Cemetery Lane.

Among the scores of nearby burials are Scroggins’ two sons, and veterans of the First World War, as well as a veteran of the famed 369th US Infantry “Harlem Hellfighters.” Due to years of neglect, however, only a handful of headstones are visible in the cemetery. William H. Scroggins’ grave now rests between urban development and rapidly encroaching flora.

09/24/2026

A great account provided by George Caldwell of the 100th Pennsylvania Infantry and transcribed by our friend at Spared & Shared.

Just transcribed a letter by George Baird Caldwell of Washington, PA, who enlisted in Co. A, 100th Pennsylvania Infantry ("Roundheads") in 1861. His letter from their camp on Kalorama Heights in Washington D. C. is quite vivid: "From the tents you may look over all Washington. The snowy habitations [white canvas tents] of our comrades over the river, and creation generally all round....A calm, confident, determination is the spirit of the soldiers—no bluffing, but just the right mood. To give you some idea of the change in affairs, I may mention that our company, composed of certainly worse material than the old one, now does better on marching than it ever did—no exaggeration. We are comfortable, contented, and learning."

To read his letter, go to: https://sparedshared23.com/2026/09/23/1861-george-baird-caldwell-to-sarah-b-wilson/

09/17/2026

‪“A Lone Grave On The Battle-Field Of Antietam” by Alexander Gardner depicts the temporary burial site of Private John Marshall, Company L, 28th Pennsylvania Infantry.

Although native to Ireland, Marshall lived in Allegheny City for several years prior to the Civil War, and was killed in action on September 17, 1862. At age 50, he would have been among the oldest citizen soldiers serving in the Army of the Potomac.

Marshall now rests in Grave 19, Lot A, Section 26 of Antietam National Cemetery.

09/17/2026

On the afternoon of September 17, 1862 tragedy struck Pittsburgh’s working class community of Lawrenceville, at the site of Allegheny Arsenal.

Within a series of three gunpowder-fueled explosions that afternoon, 78 civilian workers’ lives were lost; most being women and children working in the arsenal’s laboratory. Among those killed in the blast was Melinda Neckerman, the daughter of the arsenal’s master mechanic, Michael Neckerman. Years after her death, Michael recorded in his journal:

“Our oldest daughter, Fredalina (Melinda), who was engaged to a brave young man, saddler by trade, lost her life in the terrible explosion of the powder magazine in the Arsenal on September 17, 1862. One hand was found on which was the engagement ring by which it was identified, and was buried in Allegheny Cemetery with seventy-four other unfortunate young ladies. Her intended, William Körning, through grief, enlisted in the army and lost his life in a battle in Virginia. That was the hardest blow that ever befell us, although there is some consolation in knowing that they both died for their country.”

The only known photograph of an Allegheny Arsenal explosion victim is that of Melinda. Today her remains rest in Lawrenceville’s Allegheny Cemetery, among the victims of the greatest home front disaster of the Civil War.