An acquaintance of Abraham Eisenhauer

July 6, 2008

John Hoptak, owner of the 48th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Blog and a park ranger at Antietam National Park, was kind enough to direct me to a posting from his blog of one Henry Ege.  Henry was a private in Company I of the 48th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers (the same unit as Abraham Eisenhauer!).  Both Abraham and Henry enlisted at the same time and were mustered in on the same day.  John believes they would have known each other!  Even though I don’t have a picture of Abraham, it is unbelievable to look at the picture of Henry.  I realize I am looking into the eyes of someone who once knew and served with my ancestor!  They were both young men at the time (Abraham was 20 and Henry was 18) and who knows, perhaps even became quick friends when they first met.

I have copied the text of the post from John’s blog below and included the pictures.  You can view the original here: http://48thpennsylvania.blogspot.com/2006/11/profiles-private-henry-ege-company-i.html

I am also including the Civil War Veterans’ Card File for both men from the Pennsylvania State Archives (I will also post in the future about the PA State Archives, which are an amazing resource).  The card files show that the two joined at the same time (M.I. stands for “Mustered In”).

The text of John’s Post:

PROFILES: Private Henry Ege, Company I

When the American Civil War broke out in the spring of 1861, Henry J. Ege of Orwigsburg was just fifteen years of age, and was thus too young to volunteer. In February 1864, however, when the call once again went out for three-year volunteers, Ege, now eighteen, was quick to enlist. On February 23, the young laborer who stood 5’5 ½ with blue eyes and brown hair, was mustered into service as a private in Company I, 48th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. The next month, Ege, along with the reenlisted veterans of the regiment as well as other new recruits, boarded train cars in Pottsville and set out for Annapolis, Maryland, where the Union Ninth Army Corps was then assembling.

On April 13, 1864, Henry Ege wrote the following letter to his mom and dad in Orwigsburg from the camp of the 48th at Annapolis:

Dear Parents
I take my pen in hand to let you know that we are all well at present time and hoping that these few lines may find you enjoying the same state of happiness. I have not much news to tell you this time. I am out of money and would like if you would send me about five dollars as soon as you receive this letter. I would not have written for some money but we don’t know when we will get paid, a person feels lost if he has no money out here. General Burnside and Gen. U.S. Grant were here today, they are very fine looking Generals. The rest of the Orwigsburg boys are all well. I have no more news for this time. I had a letter from my school master C.H. Meredith. No more at present. Excuse bad writing for I had a bad pen.
Answer Soon
From Your Son
Henry J. Ege

Less than one month later, on May 12, 1864, Henry J. Ege was shot through the head at the battle of Spotsylvania and killed instantly. The eager eighteen-year-old volunteer was in the army less than three months. When the guns fell silent and the smoke cleared from the fields near Spotsylvania, members of the 48th Pennsylvania buried Ege on the battlefield along with at least twenty more of their comrades killed in action on that terrible day. To indicate the spot where Ege’s remains were buried, the soldiers of the 48th erected the wooden marker pictured here.

Ege lay buried near Spotsylvania for some time before his father traveled to Virginia to bring his son’s body back home to Orwigsburg for a permanent burial.

(Ege letter courtesy of the Frantz Family, Orwigsburg; Photographs courtesy of Mr. Al Morgan)

The images from John’s post and the card files from the PA State Archives:

As Always, Thank you John for all your help , your kind correspondence and for sharing your tremendous expertise!  I also wanted to reiterate to all my readers, if you are at all interested in the Civil War, I recommend John’s 48th Pennsylvania Blog!  It is a treasure trove of information written by a man who is working in the middle of it all - truly first class!

Posted in Civil War, Eisenhauers, Individuals, Veterans