|
 The little known
Pennsylvania Union Civil War General John Frederick Hartranft
was born in 1830. After graduating college with a degree in
Civil Engineering, he married Sallie Sebring in 1854. Hartranft
began studying law and was admitted to the bar. He was also
active in the local militia, fire company, and Masons. As the
Civil War approached, Hartranft was one of those up-and-coming
young men who would soon be leading their neighbors into battle.
Within four days
of offering his services to Governor Andrew Curtin, Colonel
Hartranft reported to Camp Curtin in Harrisburg with a regiment
of men from Montgomery County, making up the 4th Regiment of
Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was to serve for
90 days, not because it was thought the war would be short but
because that was the maximum time period the President could
federalize state militias. (Congress was not in session during
the spring of 1861 and a law allowing three-year enlistments
would not be passed until later in the summer).
The 4th Pennsylvania
joined General Irvin McDowell's army that marched out to meet
the Confederates in the nearby Virginia countryside. On the
eve of the Battle of First Manassas (Bull Run), the Regiment's
ninety day enlistment was about to expire. Despite Hartranft's
pleas, the entire regiment walked off the battlefield as the
first shots were being fired. Hartranft was devastated and embarrassed.
Rather than leave the fight, he volunteered his services to
General William Franklin. Hartranft always considered the actions
of his men to be a stain on his honor, erased in 1886 when he
received the Medal of Honor for his own heroic actions at Bull
Run.
Afterwards, Hartranft
returned to Pennsylvania and raised the 51st Regiment of Pennsylvania
Volunteer Infantry, a three-year regiment. The new unit initially
was assigned to Burnside's operations along the North Carolina
coast in the spring of 1862. The 51st Pennsylvania was sent
to Virginia in the summer to join Pope's army and fought at
the Second Battle of Bull Run in August 1862. The next year,
Colonel Hartranft led the 51st Pennsylvania in a gallant charge
across “Burnside's Bridge” at the Battle of Antietam.
The 51st also fought
at Vicksburg, Mississippi; Knoxville, Tennessee (one of the
few regiments to serve in both the east and the west); and,
Spotsylvania, Virginia. He was promoted to Brigadier General
for his outstanding service. At Petersburg, Hartranft foiled
Lee's attack on Fort Stedman, the last major Confederate offensive
of the war. Lee's failure led to the evacuation of the Petersburg
defenses and the ultimate fall of Richmond. For this action,
Hartranft was promoted to major general.
At the end of the
war, Hartranft was appointed special provost marshal for the
trial of the Lincoln assassination conspirators, where he was
responsible for the custody of the prisoners and the execution
of four of those convicted. Hartranft was especially noted for
his kind treatment toward Mary Surratt, the first woman ever
executed by the federal government. After the war, Hartranft
returned to his hometown and entered Republican politics. He
served as Auditor General from 1867 to 1873 and governor of
Pennsylvania from 1873 to 1879. As governor, he supported suffrage
for African Americans, fought the corrupt Simon Cameron political
machine, and championed the rights of the workingman.
This latter inclination
caused him problems not only with business owners but also with
part of the growing labor movement. Depending upon one's personal
views, the Molly Maguires were either a band of lawless hoodlums
or a group of legitimate defenders of Irish workers. When violence
in the coalfields of northeast Pennsylvania led to several deaths,
Hartranft was caught in the middle. Eventually 20 members of
the “Mollies” were hanged, despite pleas to Hartranft
for pardons.
During the summer
of 1877, the nation and the Commonwealth were faced with a series
of railroad strikes that often turned into riots. Hartranft
sympathized with the plight of the workers, but he would not
allow mob rule to challenge the rule of law and used the state
militia to restore order. One result of this action was the
recognition that the militia system was terribly disorganized.
As an “old soldier,” Hartranft saw the need for a
modernized body of troops, which led to the formation of today's
Pennsylvania National Guard.
After serving two
terms as governor, Hartranft was appointed Postmaster of Philadelphia
and later Collector for the Port of Philadelphia. He also served
as commander of the Pennsylvania National Guard and was commander-in-chief
of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Union veterans’
organization.
Hartranft died in
Norristown, Pennsylvania on October 17, 1889, and is buried
in the local cemetery. The Pennsylvania National Guard provided
an obelisk for his grave, monuments at Petersburg and Vicksburg
honor his battlefield exploits, an equestrian statue stands
next to the Pennsylvania Capitol Building, and Camp No. 15 of
the Sons of Union Veterans is named in his honor.
Our thanks
to Lawrence Keener-Farley for this article. Dr. Keener-Farley
is president of the Camp Curtin Historical Society and is the
Senior Vice Commander of the Maj. Gen. John F. Hartranft Camp
No. 15 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. He also
is Dance Master of the Victorian Dance Ensemble. Last April, this
group demonstrated Civil War dancing at the historic Landon House
for participants in the Smithsonian Resident Associates Seminar,
Second Manassas to Antietam, led by Will Greene and Ed
Bearss. Dr. Keener-Farley is a long-term Smithsonian Resident
Associate and a Contributing Member of the Smithsonian Institution. |
Learning Links
Gen.
John F. Hartranft,
Civil War Hero and
Governor of Pennsylvania
Photo,
Pennsylvania State Archives
|
|
