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First Sergeant Simon Hubler Company I, 143rd Regiment, was
mustered into service September 20, 1862, promoted from Corporal to
Sergeant Jan. 2, 1865, to 1st Sergeant Apr 15, 1865, commissioned 2d
Lieutenant, June 1, 1865, mustered out with company June 12, 1865.1
SIMON HUBLER AT THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG We were lying at White Oak Church, south of Falmouth, Virginia, when we received orders to march. We did not know where we were going, but our course took us to Bealton Station, thence along the Orange & Alexandria Railroad in a northerly direction, and presently we arrived at Berlin's Ford, near Harpers Ferry, where we crossed the Potomac river. We crossed the Potomac about June 27th. After crossing the river we proceeded to Middletown, Maryland. We arrived at this place
on Sunday. Guards were thrown out, as was the custom, and it happened
that the women and girls who were coming from Sunday School, which
was held in one of the churches of the town, were compelled to pass
by Charley Wilson, one of the guards. Wilson told them they could not
pass. They became very much alarmed and began to cry, whereupon
Wilson told them they could pass if they gave him a kiss. This each
one did, and were allowed to pass by the guards. At this place two young women came among the soldiers and
announced that if any of the soldiers had any letters that they
desired to be sent that they should give the letters to them and they
would be stamped and mailed. They gathered a large supply of letters,
nearly all of which were unstamped, and so far as it is known every
letter was mailed to its destination. On the following day (Monday) we began our march again, and
arrived at Emmitsburg on June 30, 1863. There we went into camp.
During the forenoon of the next day we heard the booming of the
cannon in the distance. We did not know what it meant nor where it
was. During the morning I left my regiment for a little while and
went out foraging. When I returned, the regiment, and in fact, the
entire brigade had disappeared. I found my gun and blanket where I
had placed them, and immediately picked them up and hurried on in the
direction which the brigade had taken. It seems that a courier had come during my absence with
"hurry" orders, and the boys were on their way toward Gettysburg. It
seems that we had camped at Emmitsburg over night on June 30th, and
it was on July 1st when the regiment received its "hurry" orders, and
we heard the booming of the cannon. About noon on July 1st we were coming into Gettysburg on the
Emmitsburg Road when suddenly we were directed to strike to the left
of the town across the fields. By this time there was a lively fight on over beyond the town
near the Theological Seminary between Buford's Calvary and the
Confederate forces, the same being composed of Hill's corps. We
hurried on in the direction of the fighting and went into position.
Before arriving at the place where we went into position we were
ordered to unsling our knapsacks. This we did, piling them in a heap,
and left a guard to take care of them. We saw nothing further of
these knapsacks until after the battle when we discovered that they
had been filled with sand by the Rebels and had been used by them as
a breastwork. We went into position near MacPherson's Barn, our right
resting near the barn and our left extending toward Reynold's Grove.
Immediately in front of us were the 149th and 150th Pennsylvania
Volunteers, and we were not allowed to fire for fear of injuring our
own troops, although the mini-balls were falling among us with
uncomfortable frequency. While we were standing in line near the barn a bullet struck
Jacob Yale above the eye, and he dropped at my feet, striking against
my leg. This was the first man killed out of Company "I" 143d
Pennsylvania Volunteers. When he dropped the orderly directed the
line to close up, and this the men did with serious faces. He was the
first of many to fall on that fateful day. Presently orders came to move by the right flank, and we were
hurried toward the Chambersburg Pike. At a farm house which stood near the barn there was a deep
well from which the water was taken by means of a well sweep. The
boys were making rather good use of this well, when an officer cut
the rope allowing the bucket to fall to the bottom. His purpose was
evidently to prevent the men from indulging too freely in the cold
water in their overheated condition. It was at this farm house where John Shafer of my Company ran
into the cellar and brought out a large crock of sour milk. He took
it into the wagon shed near by and he and his fellow soldiers
proceeded to dip their hands into the milk and to drink it in that
manner. While we were consuming the milk a shell passed through the
roof of the shed, whereupon John Shafer remarked that "We had better
hurry up because the d--n fools have our range, and might hurt
somebody." After leaving the shed and passing through the barn yard a
shell struck among the straw and manure, its progress through the
muck being apparent for a considerable distance. One of the soldiers
seeing it shouted, "See the d--n thing go." After leaving the
barnyard we hurried on and joined the balance of the regiment in the
Chambersburg Pike, where they had taken position. It was now about
three o'clock in the afternoon. Presently we were ordered to fire. We saw no enemy, except
men at a very great distance. However, I fired with the rest,
according to orders, and proceeded to put the powder from two
cartridges into my gun, and rammed a ball down on the double charge.
I then raised the sight to 900 yards and fired at some rebels whom I
saw away off on the hill, probably a mile distant. After I had fired this shot I saw the enemy much nearer at
hand. They were coming out of the railroad cut and were charging our
position. We fired into their ranks and drove them back. They repeated the charge and we drove them back into the cut
a second time. They then charged the third time, and we succeeded in
driving them back again. About the time the third charge was made, Josiah Wolf of my
company said, "Corporal, I have two charges in my gun and I'm afraid
to shoot them out." I said, "All right, give it to me." I took the
gun and fired it. The recoil was terrific. I handed the piece to Wolf
and told him that if he got more than one charge in again that he
would have to fire it himself. I am of the opinion that he had five
or six charges in, instead of two. Soon the order came to fall back. This we did in somewhat
broken order. As we fell back toward the town of Gettysburg, from the
Chambersburg Pike, the Rebels followed. It was in the field between the Chambersburg Pike and
Gettysburg where Crippen our color bearer fell, defying the enemy.
When the colors went down we were directed to charge back to meet the
Rebels, who were charging for the colors. They gave back before our charge and we seized the colors and
continued our retreat until we reached the Lutheran Theological
Seminary. As we were passing this point the captain of a battery
stationed there shouted, "My G-d boys, save my guns." We placed ourselves between and around the guns and directed
a fire of musketry into the advancing Confederate line. The artillery men worked heroically. One of the guns grew so
hot that one man would hold a piece of leather over the vent while
another would ram home the charge. As soon as he would remove his
thumb from the vent the charge would be exploded. It was here, although I did not see it, that a Rebel came up
to one of the guns of this battery, which I afterwards ascertained to
be the Second Maine Battery, laid his hand on a gun and said, "This
gun is mine." The artillery man replied, "D--n you, take it then," pulled
the lanyard and blew the Rebel into pieces. Between the efforts of the battery and our own efforts, the
charge of the Rebels upon the battery was repulsed, and we continued
our retreat. Near the entrance to the town of Gettysburg our regiment
became pretty well broken up, and I presently found myself alone. I hurried on toward town and passed a number of soldiers
sheltered behind a huge heap of oyster shells. The bullets were going
into these shells with a zipping sound, and I remarked to the men who
were sheltering themselves there that they had better be careful or
they would be captured. That was the last time I saw them, so I do
not know whether they were captured or not. I struck off to the right and presently found myself on the
Baltimore Pike in the midst of the town of Gettysburg. Before reaching the Baltimore Pike, however, I passed through
one or two smaller streets, and while passing down one of these
streets a party of Rebels came down a side street and saw me and a
man belonging to the 6th Wisconsin, and a third boy whom I cannot
place, hurrying along together. When we saw [the Rebels] we started to run, whereupon they
shouted, "Halt, you Yankee sons of b------." We did not halt and they
immediately fired. One of the balls cut through my hair just above my left ear,
and struck the man from the 6th Wisconsin, a big, tall, man, in the
back of the head. It cracked like a pistol shot. He fell sprawling in the street. I looked down and saw his
brains oozing out, and then stepped over him and hurried along. The next instant another ball struck my cartridge box, cut
leather of the short cap of the box nearly through lengthwise. I
thought to myself, "I have been shot in the hip," but I could still
run and proceeded to do so. Let be understood that I was fired upon by the Rebels as we
crossed the intersection of the side street with the street on which
we were running. A little further down I saw a man come out between two houses
with a cup of water. On seeing this I hurried back between the houses
to get a drink for myself. When I got behind the house I saw a Rebel standing behind the
garden fence taking aim at one of our men. I thought, "If only I had
a load in my gun you wouldn't shoot our boys." However, as I glanced a little to the right of the man who
was taking aim I saw a second Rebel ramming home a charge in his gun,
and looking at me with a most ferocious look. I did not stop for a
drink of water, but hurriedly ran out the same way I had come in,
into the street. Then I started right up the street, and had only gone a short
distance when a charge of canister came crashing along the street.
Some of the charge evidently struck some wounded who were in a
passing ambulance because I heard them scream. I hurried along the Baltimore Pike fast as I could, and was
passing a barn in the outskirts of the town when I heard someone
shout, "Oh, Hubler!" The shout came from the interior of the barn. I turned and entered one of the doors and found Sidney
Telley, of my company, lying in one of the cow stalls severely
wounded in the arm. I took him out of the cow stall and helped him
into another part of the barn where I cleaned him up to some extent,
then took my large red silk handkerchief and bound up his wounded
arm. It seems that the bullet had entered near the left wrist and
lodged near the left elbow. When I entered the barn Telley shouted, "I dreamed last night
that they shot me in the right arm, and here today the sons of b----s
have shot me in the left arm!" I found a comfortable place for him to lie down, gave him one
half of the water in my canteen to drink, and left the balance of the
water beside him. Then, leaving Telley, I went over to where a new recruit from
New York State, belonging to a New York battery, had thrown his
knapsack, and proceeded to go through the knapsack. The New Yorker
was evidently skulking in another portion of the barn, and did not
see what was happening to his knapsack. I found a quantity of writing
paper, some tobacco and some other trinkets. I took some of the writing paper and all of the tobacco,
leaving the other things in the knapsack, with the exception of an
artillery jacket, which I appropriated. I removed the red stripes
from the jacket and slipped it on over my blouse. There were a few
other soldiers on the lower floor of the barn, so I took the writing
paper and tobacco up to the next floor and hid the articles in the
windmill. I stayed with Telley in the barn all night and in the morning
12 men belonging to the 55th Ohio entered the barn for the purpose of
sharp-shooting. The mini-balls were striking the barn at frequent
intervals. The first thing these fellows did was to find and take my
writing paper and tobacco, which I had hid, and then they proceeded
to open fire on the enemy. During the night twelve pound cannon were frequently sending
shells from our lines in the direction of the enemy. Every time a 12
pounder was fired Telley would shout, 'My G-d, that's a big one. Do
you think they'll shell the barn?' I assured him they would not. Along about eight or nine o'clock in the morning I looked out
of an aperture between the beam of the barn and the wall supporting
the barn, and saw two Confederates running along the post and rail
fence about 250 yards distant. I took deliberate aim at one of the
men who was running, and fired. The man at whom I aimed fell forward
on his face, while the other one hurried away as fast as he could
run. I do not know whether I killed this man or not, because there
were others shooting at the same time. These incidents happened on the morning of July 2, 1863. The Lieutenant in command of the detail of 12 men from the
55th Ohio wanted someone to take a note up to his commanding office,
who was located with the regiment behind a stone wall about 350 yards
distant from the barn where we were sheltered. The men who were under
the Lieutenant hesitated about taking the note, and I volunteered to
take it. I took the note and ran in a zig-zag fashion toward the wall
where the 55th Ohio regiment was stationed. When I reached the wall I
walked along in front of it for some distance, when someone shouted,
'Say you Pennsylvanian, you had better jump over here or you'll get
plugged.' During my run the bullets had sung uncomfortably near, so I
hastily followed the advice which was given me and jumped over behind
the wall. I inquired where the commander of the regiment was,
whereupon a major spoke up and said, 'Here I am.' I thereupon handed him the note. Evidently the note contained
a request for more men because the major immediately detailed a squad
of 12 more men, and inquired of me how they would find their way to
the proper place. I told him that I was going to the barn because I had a
wounded comrade there. I told the detail to follow me and sprang over
the wall, and running in a zig-zag fashion we all safely reached the
barn. I told Telley when I returned that he should get ready to go
with me as I was going to take him up to our lines and find a
surgeon. I took Telley by the arm and led him out to the end of the
wall. There I said to him, 'Telley, if you ever run in your life, I
want you to run now.' He said he would run. I took him by the hand
and we started out in the open. He ran a short distance, but I was
compelled to frequently pull him along. He was weak from loss of
blood and had but little run in him. We stopped behind a wagon shed and took our breath. I told
Telley that if he didn't run better from that place on that I would
drop him, and they would shoot him to pieces. He said, 'By G-d, I'll
run,' and this time he did run. I took him up to the wall and took him over the wall where
the 55th Ohio was stationed. Then I took him on until I found some surgeons operating, and
said, 'Here is a man who needs your attention.' I watched them remove
the bullet from Telley's arm and after it was taken out I hurried
away to join my regiment again. I found my regiment lying behind the cemetery.
I removed my artillery jacket and the boys called my
attention to the fact that there were three bullet holes in my blouse.
A little after noon General Doubleday shouted in his deep,
heavy voice, 'Fall in guards, fall in.' We formed into line
immediately and started on the double quick toward the left center
where the Rebels had captured a battery. With the assistance of some troops that came in from the left
we recaptured this battery, and drove the Rebels back across the
field. I did not see the hand to hand fight, but was told that some
of the Union troops clubbed their muskets over the heads of the
Confederates in the fight. After we had recaptured the battery we took position directly
in front of it, which position we maintained the rest of the day, the
following night and during the third day. I distinctly heard the noise of terrific fighting out toward
the center, where the right at the Peach Orchard was taking place. During the night of the 2d I heard someone cry for water out
in front of our position. The boys told me I'd get plugged, but I
took the risk and proceeded with a canteen of water out in front of
the line in the direction of the cry. Presently I came across the object of my search, and found
him to be a Confederate soldier mortally wounded. I gave him all the
water that I had in my canteen. He asked who I was, and I told him I belonged to the
Pennsylvania Bucktail Brigade, whereupon he remarked that even though
I was a Yank I had a good heart. The next morning our skirmishers found him dead. During the night there was intermittent firing, but the real
music did not begin until early in the morning when a roar from the
extreme right told us of the fight the 12th Corps were making to
regain their trenches on Culp's Hill, which had been occupied by the
Confederates in their absence the evening previous. We occupied a part of the morning in raising a slight
protection of sand, earth and rails against the bullets of the enemy.
There was very little fighting, and comparatively little excitement
until about one o'clock in the afternoon. We heard the firing of the
skirmishers from time to time, but little if any cannonading.
The following part was dictated October 17, 1912. Suddenly a cannon roared over on our left and then another
boom sounded from the right. Immediately all the Confederate
batteries in our front opened fire and the famous cannonade of the
third days fight had begun. Our batteries answered the fire of the
Rebels and the noise was terrific. After the cannonade had continued for some time I happened to
look toward the left, over back of Round Top, where I saw some troops
coming. I remarked, "Boys, here come reinforcements." Someone said, 'They are coming too fast for reinforcements.'
Presently they got a little nearer and we discovered that it was our
reserve artillery coming to take position. Just at our rear there was a 12 pound brass battery which had
been silenced by the fire of the Confederates. One gun had been
knocked down and two caissons had been blown up. The reserve
artillery came on and a ten pound steel battery swung into the
position which the silenced battery had occupied. They immediately
opened fire on the Rebel battery which had taken position within 1500
yards of our lines. This battery was probably the nearest of the enemy's
batteries, and up to this time had been doing effective work for
them. In less than 20 minutes after the steel battery had taken
position and opened fire, the opposing Confederate battery had been
silenced. The artillery fire from our batteries slackened until only
here and there a gun boomed defiance to the enemy. I was looking toward the lines of the enemy when I suddenly
saw a line of Confederates advance over a rise in the ground. I said,
'Hello, boys, here comes a charge.' The Confederates came on as
though on dress parade, directly toward our position. Our artillery had opened fire, and men were dropping fast out
of the Confederate lines. When they came within about 600 yards we
directed two or three volleys of musketry into them and almost at the
same time they filed obliquely toward the left and soon struck our
lines to the right of our position. The din was awful. We could see the fighting only
indistinctly because of obstructions in the way, and because of
obstructions in the way, and because of the powder smoke. We soon saw small bodies of Confederates retreating, and then
larger masses which hurried back, broken and disorganized. During the bombardment, preceding the charge, a man crawled
up and stated that a shell had struck a man in Company D of our
Regiment, taking off his head just above the ears, and scattering his
brain over seven other soldiers. A man by the name of Stair in my
Company looked up and asked if it killed him. The boys roared with
laughter and called him a d----d fool for asking such a foolish
question.
Picket's charge was over about four o'clock in the afternoon
and during the remaining hours of daylight the firing was desultory. We maintained the position we had occupied during the day,
during the night of July 3 sleeping on our arms. We remained where we
were until the following afternoon when orders came to fall in. We started toward South Mountain after Lee who was retreating
toward Virginia. We did not catch Lee, however, and he escaped across
the Potomac and back into Virginia, where we were destined to fight
with him again in the Wilderness, at Weldon Railroad and at
Petersburg and other places. Afterword First Sergeant Simon Hubler Company I, 143rd Regiment, was
mustered into service September 20, 1862, promoted from Corporal to
Sergeant Jan. 2, 1865, to 1st Sergeant Apr 15, 1865, commissioned 2d
Lieutenant, June 1, 1865, mustered out with company June 12, 1865. This manuscript was written Aug. 5, 1912, when Simon Hubler,
M.D. was 68 years old. At that time Dr. Hubler lived in Dunmore,
[Scranton] Pa. and his only child Harry was a lawyer in the same
town. Marcia Wilson, ggrandaughter of Simon Hubler, granddaughter of
Harry Hubler, found this typed manuscript in a photograph album
belonging to the late Louise Gibson Heffernan, a foster daughter
[actually a niece] of Harry Hubler who had worked as secretary in his
Scranton Pa law office in the 1940's and 50's). This narrative was originally published in the New York Times
on June 29, 1913, in a column by Robert L. Brake. My great
grandfather, Dr. Simon Hubler, had died two months previously in
Scranton on April 24, 1913. He was 69 years old. He was survived by
his wife, Julia Bird Hubler, his only child, Attorney Harry Clark
Hubler, his two grandchildren, Katharine Margaret Hubler and
Richard Gibson Hubler. I used to have two pocket watches belonging to my great
grandfather Simon Hubler, one gold and one silver. My mother asked me
to give them to her, saying she was afraid I would sell them. Shortly
before she died, my mother sold the pocket watches, along with Simon
Hubler's Civil War Hat and fix bayonet, to an antique dealer. I used to have a post war reunion medal that belonged to
my great grandfather. The medal was round, copper and attached to
striped ribbons hanging from a copper bar. One side of the medal
showed a Civil War soldier holding a flag and shaking his fist. The
other side said, "Stood like a band of iron amidst the surging masses
of the enemy. Doubleday." An article in the History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers by Samuel P.
Bates describes the role of the 143rd Regiment in the Battle of
Gettysburg: A month later the corps started on the Gettysburg campaign,
and was the first to reach the field of action. It had bivouacked on
the night of the 30th at a point on Marsh Creek, about four miles
from the town of Gettysburg. On the morning of the 1st of July it
moved forward and soon the sound of artillery was heard, the cavalry
under Buford engaging the enemy's advance. At a little before noon the brigade went into position upon a
ridge beyond that on which the Theological Seminary stands, under a
heavy fire, the One Hundred and Forty-third forming on the line of
railroad. Early in the action General Reynolds was killed, and
Colonels Stone and Wister were wounded. The command of the brigade then devolved on Colonel Dana,
that of the regiment on Lieutenant Colonel Musser. A terrific fire of
infantry and artillery was brought to bear on the position, but it
was manfully held, though the dead and wounded on every hand told at
what a fearful cost. Repeated charges were made with ever fresh troops, but each
was repulsed with fearful slaughter. Finally the enemy succeeded in
flanking the position, and the line was pressed back a short
distance, but made a stand in a field a little back from the first
railroad cut. Later in the afternoon the brigade was forced to retire to a
position near the Seminary. When this movement became necessary-- the
Union force being vastly outnumbered, and the command for it had been
given-- the color bearer of the regiment and many of the men could
with difficulty be made to face to the rear, seeming determined to
die rather than yield the ground. In executing this movement the
color bearer, Benjamin H. Crippen, Sergeant company E, was among the
last to move and was killed in the act, still clinging to his
standard. This incident is thus recorded by an English officer, who was
at the time with the enemy, in an article in Blackwood's Magazine .6
"General Hill," he says, " soon came up...Said he had two of his
divisions engaged, and had driven the enemy four miles into his
present position, capturing a great many prisoners, some cannon, and
some colors. He said, however, that the Yankees had fought with a
determination unusual to them. He pointed out a railway cutting in
which they had made a good stand; also a field in the centre of which
he had seen a man plant the regimental colors, round which the enemy
had fought for some time with much obstinacy, and when at last it was
obliged to retreat, the color bearer retired last of all, turning
round every now and then to shake his fist at the advancing rebels.
General Hill said he felt quite sorry when he had seen this gallant
Yankee meet his doom." The flag was rescued and brought safely off. When all hope of
longer holding the position was gone, the brigade fell back through
the town and took position on Cemetery Hill, where the shattered
ranks of the two corps which had been engaged were re-formed. On the morning of the 2nd, artillery and picket firing opened
early, but was light on the immediate front occupied by the brigade.
In the afternoon a heavy attack was made upon the left of the line
where Sickles' Corps stood, and the brigade was ordered over to its
support. The movement was executed under a heavy fire of shells, from
which some loss was sustained, and a position taken on the left
centre in open ground, where it rested for the night and threw up
works, the ground being lowest of any part of the whole line. At four o'clock on the morning of the 3rd, a heavy artillery
fire was opened which extended along the right of the line, and at
one P.M., the enemy opened with all his guns enveloping the whole
Union front, the shells and solid shot ploughing the fields in every
direction. Later in the afternoon the enemy made his last grand
infantry charge upon the left centre, the strength of which fell a
little to right of the position where the regiment lay. This charge, though made in great force, and pressed with
singular obstinacy, was completely repulsed, and the enemy fell back
not again to renew the battle. The regiment entered this engagement
with 465 men, rank and file. Of these, the killed and missing in
action, supposed to be killed, was 47, and the wounded and prisoners
were 205, an aggregate loss of 252, more than half of its entire
strength. Lieutenants Charles W. Betzenberger, and Lee D. Groover,
were among the killed, and Lyman R. Nicholson mortally wounded.