Bucktail Decsendants Association - RUHL
Corporal Joseph B. Ruhl
150th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment
Company D
Recollections of the Ruhl Brothers
by Sergeant Charles A. Frey, Company D 150th PVI
"Sergeant Charles A. Frey, of Company D, who was detached and serving at division headquarters, says: "The loss in my own company was very heavy, and a few days after, while following up the retreating enemy, I met my regiment. They were a sad looking set of men. There were only about one hundred and twenty-five left, and my own company, which went into the fight with fifty-two men, was reduced to twelve or fifteen. I first inquired for my three old messmates. They were all gone, -Henning, killed; Himmelreich and Hauck, wounded. Eight of my company were left dead upon the field, twenty were wounded and five taken prisoners. A few were absent on 'French leave.'
"Of two brothers, Corporals Samuel and Joseph B. Ruhl, one was killed in the battle, and the other had to march away leaving him upon the field. Word was sent to the family that Joseph was killed. His sister Sarah, on the morning of receiving the sad news, said she would go and bring him home. Ordering two horses hitched to a spring wagon, she started on her mornful journey, and by night of the same day on which she received the news of his death she was many miles on her way towards Gettysburg. Reaching the battlefield, she began to search for his body- or, rather, his grave, as he had been buried in the meantime. After a long search she found it, had the body unearthed, and placing it in a coffin conveyed it home, where it was laid to rest in a quiet graveyard by the side of the fields through which he roamed in boyhood days."
Military Record
Enlisted on August 29th, 1862 as a Corporal into Company D of the 150th P.V.I. Joseph Ruhl was amongst the 8 men killed in the ranks of Company D on July 1st, 1863 at Gettysburg.
Sources
1. Photograph of Cpl. J.B.Ruhl graciously contributed by Dr. James R. Ruhl. No use of this image is permitted without permission from the Ruhl Family.
2. Military Record: Bates "History of Pennsylvania Volunteers 1861-65"
3. Recollections of the Ruhl Brothers- "History of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Pennsylvania Volunteers" by Chamberlain.
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