149th Pennsylvania Volunteers
Recruited at Curwensville, Pennsylvania
Organized at Camp Curtn, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania August 23, 1862

With the immortalization of the name “Bucktail” for their uncommon valor against overwhelming odds in the Shenandoah Valley, Major Roy Stone and Captain Langhorn Wister were sent to Pennsylvania on recruting service to fill the ranks of the Regiment in the summer of 1862. Answering their call was John Irvin, an elder first cousin of Colonel Edward A. Irvin, who raised a second company of lumbermen and farmers totaling eighty men from Curwensville, Grampian, Pike Township and surrounding areas. This number would increase to form Company B of the 149th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.

On their departure of August 23, 1862, John Irvin was elected captain of this company of “New Bucktails.” The new regiment and company was quickly deployed to Washington, D.C. and saw its first action in the Chancellorsville campaign of April 27 to May 7, 1863. The men of Company B would distinquish themselves for their gallantry and courage throughout the war until their mustering out on June 23, 1865.

John Irvin was born at Curwensville on March 8, 1836. He was educated in the common schools of the time in season and would clerk in the family store following his father’s death when he was but twelve years of age. During his service in the Civil War, Irvin was wounded and captured. He died on February 22, 1897, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Curwensville.

The New Bucktails recorded the highest numerical losses of any unit of the Army of the Potomac during the three days at Gettysburg. 336 out of 450 men were killed, wounded or captured.3289
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John Irvin, cousin of Edward [E.A. Irvin], served in the Civil War. He was wounded in the Battle of Gettysburg but later returned to his regiment, Company B, 149th [Regiment] Pennsylvania, another Bucktail group. After the war, he and his brothers ran several businesses, including mercantile, lumbering, and milling concerns, under the name John Irvin and Brothers.3283
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Birth: Mar. 8, 1836
Death: Feb. 22, 1897

Civil War Union Army Officer.

Entered the Civil War with a commission of Captain and commander of Company B, 149th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in July 1862. After serving in garrison duty, the 149th Pennsylvania was assigned to the Army of the Potomac II Corps in Virginia.

John Irvin led his company in the subsequent Battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. At the Battle of Gettysburg, he was severely wounded on the first day of the engagement as his unit fought around McPherson’s Farm. After his recovery from his wounds he returned to the regiment, and was promoted to Major in February 1864, Lieutenant Colonel and commander in April 1864 (after the previous Colonel, Roy Stone, resigned due to aggravated injuries stemming from Gettysburg) and Colonel in February 1865.

He led the unit from April 1864 until its muster out of service in July 1865, participating in the Battles of Spotsylvania, Weldon Railroad, and Dabney Mills and, from February 1865 until July, as guards at the Federal Prison in Elmira, New York. He himself was mustered out of service in August 1865, having served three full years.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSsr=161&GScid=45646&GRid=7448964&

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"The Raftsman Rangers" recruited in Curwensville in 1861 led by Col. Irvin, later becoming Company K of the 42nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Possibly the most famous company of the Civil War because of their sharp-shooting capabilities, "The Bucktails" were recognized by the deer tails worn in their hats.

A year later, a second regiment was formed of recruits from the area allowing Curwensville to contribute Company B of the 149th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry under the command of John Irvin, a cousin of Capt. Irvin. This unit was referred to as "The New Bucktails."

The land where this monument now stands was originally donated by Capt. Irvin.3286
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In 1862, during the second year of the Civil War, John Irvin was instrumental in recruiting Company B, 149th Pennsylvania Volunteers (“New Bucktails”). He was the host of the annual Bucktail Reunion in Curwensville in 1893.

Irvin built a stately home whuch is at 200 State Street, made from stone quarried from the Temple Heights area, (circa 1870) as a residence for he and his future bride. Local lore is that his fiance withdrew from the marriage and he never lived in the residence.

In 1924 Hugh M. Irvin purchased the facility from the Irvin estate and presented it to the Masonic Lodge. It remained the home of the Noble Lodge No. 480, Free & Accepted Masons until 1996.

In the late 1990’s it was a bed and breakfast and is now a private residence.

From a Tour Brochure p. 2 found at:
http://www.visitclearfieldcounty.org/
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An in-depth narrative about a young soldier from Clearfield, PA who enlisted in the 149th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in 1862. Though a Quaker who was committed to pacifism, John F. Irwin also deeply opposed slavery and was hence committed to abolitionism. His abolitionism won out, and he served in the Army of the Potomac until the end in 1865.

Three things defined the Civil War as a modern war: 1) the extensive use of railroads; 2) newspapers were represented on the battlefield by reporters, artists, and photographers, and 3) the telegraph system which made nearly instant communication available for the newspapers. Because of this availability of news from the front, a disappointing refrain in his letters home was "...but I don't need to go into details as you read all this in the newspapers."

The 149th PVI regiment fought in all the major battles of the Army of the Potomac, battles such a Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Cold Harbor, the siege of Richmond-Petersburg. Toward the end they were sent to Elmira, NY to oversee the Rebel prison camp there and to escort new draftees to their assignments. John F. was eventually mustered out and discharged in July 1865. From the book “A Quaker Soldier in the Civil War - Letters from the Front” by John P. Irwin at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1436311365
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Book Review:

Stepping back in history to find the present, December 14, 2008
By Melissa King (Birmingham, Alabama)

He never wavered in his conviction that the war had a righteous goal, that of overcoming slavery."

This is John (Jack) Irwin's second delve into the genre of nonfiction/military. The first was Another River, Another Town: a Teenage Tank Gunner Comes of Age in Combat. In A Quaker Soldier in the Civil War, Irwin draws from letters preserved in his own family.

A Quaker soldier is paradoxical, as probable as the reverent atheist or the selfless politician. This is exactly why Jack is the best person to tell readers the story. As a former professor of philosophy, he is fearless in tackling a contradiction.

From the preface:

"He had to choose between two Quaker principles: pacifism and the opposition to slavery in any form. And his choice, once he made it, was irrevocable. He never wavered in his conviction that the war had a righteous goal, that of overcoming slavery. Yet, his letters hint of no malice toward his enemy."

Lt. John F. Irwin was a prolific letter writer and offers his family (and us today) the soldier's insight. Not much changes. The food on the battlefield is horrible, and troops are forever tormented by rumors. From http://www.amazon.com/Quaker-Soldier-Civil-War/product-reviews/1436311365/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
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Matthews cited Lt. Colonel John Irvin, who took over command of the 149th “His temperament and outlook was different. War was a job to be done day by day-no quick victory at the expense of his men. His regiment was part of the military machine. He had no need for personal acclaim.”...

Whatever the truth about the Wilderness, the men who served under Major, Colonel, General Roy Stone looked back with pride. Colonel Irvin, who returned after the war to Curwensville, Pennsylvania, would maintain contact with his 149th comrades, periodically holding reunions in August, the month of the regiment's founding. "Roy Stone," Matthews commented, "was busy with other concerns and possibly uninterested in maintaining his role as first colonel of the regiment."

He continued:
In 1893, 31 years after their enlistment date, they held their sixth reunion, this one at Curwensville, the hometown of John Irvin. More than 90 veterans attended. The average age-approximately 55.

They paraded through the town passing "magnificent and splendid decorations." On the bank building was a picture of a deer in its native wild with the words "Welcome, Bucktails, thrice Welcome." Following the parade they were escorted to John Irvin's private grove where they were feted and addressed by some of their comrades. Here Irvin's leadership was extolled and a silver smoking set presented to him as a tribute of their regard for his service. The minutes of the reunion noted that General Roy Stone sent his regrets.

The veterans of Roy Stone's Bucktails would look back with pride at the battles they survived under Stone and, in his absence, under Irvin at Richmond and Petersburg as the Civil War came to an end. But one battle on one day always stood out. Matthews closed his book on this note: But all of the original men who enlisted in Roy Stone's Bucktail Brigade remembered with pride that day when they marched onto the field at the Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg and offered up their lives for their country

From http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/stone03.cfm

[Who is Matthews? See below]
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See also
The 149th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Unit in the Civil War By Richard E. Matthews, p. 223 at:

http://books.google.com/books?id=t_rzLNkXWpQC&pg=PA223&lpg=PA223&dq=%22john+irvin%22+civil+war+curwensville&source=bl&ots=UM3jPwaNFY&sig=EJweB5g8urmQfk_EuOi8spjr3dk&hl=en&ei=d3aQS9nPFY6ssgPQ8-38Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CCIQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=%22john%20irvin%22%20civil%20war%20curwensville&f=false
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The Irvin Planning Mill produced surfaced lumber in the mid-1880s. It was located on the river near Irvin Hill. It was owned by Col. John irvin, who served in the Pennsylvania Bucktails during the Civil War, and his brothers, Jared and James. (Courtsey Curwensville-Pike Township Historical Society.) From the book “Around Curwensville” by Julie Rae Rickard, p. 48 at: http://books.google.com/
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John Irvin served six years in the Civil War and married Mary Elizabeth ISENBERG. [May be another John Irvin]
From: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pacentre/query/genw15.htm
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The following names were all on deeds belonging to Robert Askey [1768-1851]: Caleb Bailey, Abraham Passmore, Benjamin Bloom, John Irvin, Job England and Issac Bloom.759

[THIS John Irvin?]
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[UNKNOWN RELATIVE?]

[How is this John Irvin related? A son of Alexander Irvin (1800-1874) possibly? I have his headstone photos.]