Image: Definition of “Skedaddle,” a term frequently used by the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers when describing Confederate troop movements during the American Civil War (fair use screenshot, courtesy of Merriam Webster, 2022).

“Skedaddle” or “skedaddling”:  Words frequently used by officers and enlisted members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry to describe the behavior of Confederate States Army troops unfortunate enough to encounter the 47th Pennsylvania during the American Civil War. (See also: bolt, flee, hightail it, run away, and retreat.)

Example (October 1862):

“After my arrival at the bluff, it being then 7:30 o’clock, I dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander with two companies back to the last-named camp (which I found, from a number of papers left behind, to have been called Camp Hopkins and occupied by the Milton Artillery, of Florida) to reconnoiter and ascertain its condition. Upon his return he reported that from every appearance the skedaddling of the enemy was as sudden as in the other instances already mentioned, leaving their trunks and all the camp equipage behind; also a small quantity of commissary stores, sugar, rice, half barrel of flour, one bag of salt, &c., including 60 tents, which I have brought in this morning. The commissary stores were used by the troops of my command.”

— Colonel Tilghman H. Good in his report to Union Army superiors from the 47th Pennsylvania’s encampment at Saint John’s Bluff, Florida, 3 October 1862

To learn more about the involvement of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and other Union troops in the capture of Saint Johns Bluff, Florida, visit the “Official Battle and Campaign Reports” section of our website.

https://47thpennsylvaniavolunteers.com/2023/10/14/in-their-own-words-the-vocabulary-of-the-47th-pennsylvania-volunteer-infantry-skedaddle/

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First State Color, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Presented to the regiment personally by Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin, 20 September 1861. Carried into combat during multiple battles of the American Civil War. Retired and replaced with the 47th Pennsylvania's Second State Color, 11 May 1865.

Presently kept safe from further deterioration thanks to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Capitol Preservation Committee.

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Where did the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers receive basic training? At Camp Curtin (image: Harper’s Weekly, 13 December 1862, public domain), which was erected in Harrisburg, just north of Pennsylvania's State Capitol building. This major Union Army training facility was established on 18 April 1861—just three days after the fall of Fort Sumter to Confederate States Army troops. Learn more here: https://47thpennsylvaniavolunteers.com/key-battles-transports-and-duty-stations/camp-curtin-harrisburg-pennsylvania/

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Headstone of Sergeant William Pyers, Company C, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Winchester National Cemetery, Virginia; he was killed in the fighting at the Cooley Farm during the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia, 19 October 1864 (photo courtesy of Randy Fletcher, 2014).

Bio available online here: https://47thpennsylvaniavolunteers.com/company-c-color-bearers/roster-company-c-47th-pennsylvania-volunteers/pyers-william-sergeant/

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"The possibility of grand voyages and cross-country treks to lesser visited lands were what small town Pennsylvania boys read about in books, dreams turned into reality only by the most stout hearted and swashbuckling of pioneer souls—men like Theodore Mink." Learn more about this whaler-turned soldier-turned circus employee by reading his bio: https://47thpennsylvaniavolunteers.com/company-i/roster-company-i-47th-pennsylvania-volunteers/captain-theodore-mink-a-whaler-and-warrior-who-ran-off-to-join-the-circus/

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One thing that surprised me, when I began researching the formerly enslaved Black men who enlisted with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers during the American Civil War, was that several enlisted before Pres. Lincoln officially announced the Emancipation Proclamation.

Another? None of the military or pension records for these heroes were digitized by the U.S. National Archives. That's why I took this on as a special project: https://47thpennsylvaniavolunteerinfantryfreedmen.wordpress.com/about/

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Among the treasure trove of data found in the military records and U.S. Civil War Pension files of one of the formerly enslaved Black men who enlisted with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers is this excerpt from affidavit filed by the widow of one of the men on September 11, 1894: “I have no income at all from any source … except my labor from a few chickens, about 20 or 30 cents a month from eggs & chickens.”

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I'm working to purchase the military and pension records of formerly enslaved Black men who enlisted with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. (These records have not yet been digitized by the National Archives.)

I've already obtained and digitized records for several of the men, but need help to finish the job. The cost is approx. $110 per soldier. Please donate whatever you can: https://www.gofundme.com/f/honor-9-black-soldiers-of-the-american-civil-war

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"In the strange system and series of paradoxes which make up human life, it often happens that the very disciples of 'good will' and brotherly love must buckle on the harness of war. Such emphatically is the case in our present contest. Nor should it be otherwise...."

American Civil War-era Reports of the Rev. William D.C. Rodrock, Regimental Chaplain, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry: https://47thpennsylvaniavolunteers.com/religion-and-spirituality/chaplain-william-dewitt-clinton-rodrocks-civil-war-letters-and-reports-47th-pennsylvania-volunteers-1862-1865/chaplain-william-dewitt-clinton-rodrocks-civil-war-letters-and-reports-47th-pennsylvania-volunteers-1865/

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