Company I, Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry

Eric Wittenberg

1st Lieutenant
Keeper of the Scales
Joined
Jun 2, 2013
Location
Columbus, OH
This image depicts Company I of the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry. There are lots of interesting things about it. For the entire year of 1863 and part of 1864, Company I (along with Company E) served as headquarters escorts for the commanding general of the Army of the Potomac. It was taken at army headquarters near Fredericksburg, just as the Gettysburg Campaign was about to begin. Just in time for the beginning of the 1864 Overland Campaign, Companies E and I rejoined the regiment for service in the field.

The image was taken on or about June 3, 1863. Sgt. Thomas W. Smith served in Company I. On June 8, he wrote to his brother, “We had an Artist here the other day, who took a Photograph of our Company first mounted and then dismounted,” he wrote. “Perhaps you will see them in Philadelphia, if you let me know if you can Recognize me on them.”[1] Smith is in the center of the photograph. He is the sergeant standing at center, facing to the left, leaning slightly on his saber.

The Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry was formed in Philadelphia in the summer of 1861. The regiment’s original commander was Col. Richard H. Rush, the grandson of Dr. Benjamin Rush, who signed the Declaration of Independence. Rush was a member of the legendary West Point Class of 1846. In November 1861, his West Point classmate and fellow Philadelphian, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, asked Rush if he would arm his regiment with lances. Rush agreed, and the regiment soon became known as Rush’s Lancers.

The Pennsylvanians carried lances of European design, consisting of nine-foot-long poles with eleven-inch long three-sided sharp points on one end and a ferrule on the other end that acted as a counterweight. Each lance sported a scarlet pennon on the ferule end of the weapon. This weapon proved impractical in the heavily wooded Virginia theater of operations; lances are weapons of terror that are most effectively used in charges on infantry in wide open areas. Only one lance charge, by Company C, at the May 1862 Battle of Hanover Court House, was documented during the approximately 18 months that the men of the regiment carried the lances. The Army of the Potomac’s infantry often laughed at the sight of the passing Lancers, calling their lances “turkey driving implements,” and calling the men of the regiment “Lancers Rushes.”

There are lots of interesting things to be found in the image. Note the stacked lances in the left center of the photograph, to the right of Sergeant Smith. The presence of the lances helps to pin down the precise date when the photograph was taken: Companies C and I were the last two companies to turn in the lances on June 5, 1863, two days after this photo was taken. This is the only known image of troopers of the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry in the field with the infamous lances.

Matthew Brady’s photographic wagon can be clearly seen behind the line of troopers. Capt. James H. Starr, a Harvard-educated lawyer who commanded Company I, is seated on a campstool directly in front of Sergeant Smith. The civilian seated on the ground to Starr’s right is the famous sketch artist Alfred Waud, who just happened to be in camp that day. The officer reclining to Starr’s left is Lt. Frank Furness, who later became the only major American architect of note to be awarded the Medal of Honor. After the Civil War, Furness became America’s leading architect in the 1870’s and 1880’s. Note the pot of coffee by Furness’ side. The enlisted men of the company surround their officers, waiting for orders for the Army of the Potomac to move out.

This unique image depicts a company of veteran Civil War cavalrymen at rest, awaiting their next assignment.



[1]Eric J. Wittenberg, ed., We Have it **** Hard Out Here: The Civil War Letters of Sergeant Thomas W. Smith, 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry (Kent, OH: Kent State University, 1999), 91-92.


6th-pa-cavalry-34490041.jpg
 
This image depicts Company I of the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry. There are lots of interesting things about it. For the entire year of 1863 and part of 1864, Company I (along with Company E) served as headquarters escorts for the commanding general of the Army of the Potomac. It was taken at army headquarters near Fredericksburg, just as the Gettysburg Campaign was about to begin. Just in time for the beginning of the 1864 Overland Campaign, Companies E and I rejoined the regiment for service in the field.

The image was taken on or about June 3, 1863. Sgt. Thomas W. Smith served in Company I. On June 8, he wrote to his brother, “We had an Artist here the other day, who took a Photograph of our Company first mounted and then dismounted,” he wrote. “Perhaps you will see them in Philadelphia, if you let me know if you can Recognize me on them.”[1] Smith is in the center of the photograph. He is the sergeant standing at center, facing to the left, leaning slightly on his saber.

The Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry was formed in Philadelphia in the summer of 1861. The regiment’s original commander was Col. Richard H. Rush, the grandson of Dr. Benjamin Rush, who signed the Declaration of Independence. Rush was a member of the legendary West Point Class of 1846. In November 1861, his West Point classmate and fellow Philadelphian, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, asked Rush if he would arm his regiment with lances. Rush agreed, and the regiment soon became known as Rush’s Lancers.

The Pennsylvanians carried lances of European design, consisting of nine-foot-long poles with eleven-inch long three-sided sharp points on one end and a ferrule on the other end that acted as a counterweight. Each lance sported a scarlet pennon on the ferule end of the weapon. This weapon proved impractical in the heavily wooded Virginia theater of operations; lances are weapons of terror that are most effectively used in charges on infantry in wide open areas. Only one lance charge, by Company C, at the May 1862 Battle of Hanover Court House, was documented during the approximately 18 months that the men of the regiment carried the lances. The Army of the Potomac’s infantry often laughed at the sight of the passing Lancers, calling their lances “turkey driving implements,” and calling the men of the regiment “Lancers Rushes.”

There are lots of interesting things to be found in the image. Note the stacked lances in the left center of the photograph, to the right of Sergeant Smith. The presence of the lances helps to pin down the precise date when the photograph was taken: Companies C and I were the last two companies to turn in the lances on June 5, 1863, two days after this photo was taken. This is the only known image of troopers of the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry in the field with the infamous lances.

Matthew Brady’s photographic wagon can be clearly seen behind the line of troopers. Capt. James H. Starr, a Harvard-educated lawyer who commanded Company I, is seated on a campstool directly in front of Sergeant Smith. The civilian seated on the ground to Starr’s right is the famous sketch artist Alfred Waud, who just happened to be in camp that day. The officer reclining to Starr’s left is Lt. Frank Furness, who later became the only major American architect of note to be awarded the Medal of Honor. After the Civil War, Furness became America’s leading architect in the 1870’s and 1880’s. Note the pot of coffee by Furness’ side. The enlisted men of the company surround their officers, waiting for orders for the Army of the Potomac to move out.

This unique image depicts a company of veteran Civil War cavalrymen at rest, awaiting their next assignment.



[1]Eric J. Wittenberg, ed., We Have it **** Hard Out Here: The Civil War Letters of Sergeant Thomas W. Smith, 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry (Kent, OH: Kent State University, 1999), 91-92.


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I’m not sure if I’m more impressed with the photo or of your knowledge of those in it :smile:. Your description of the sabers used by Company l, Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry suggests they may have been banned by the Geneva Convention in years (wars) to come. :smile: Fascinating story! Thank you for posting.
 
I guarantee those were banned in future wars. So, we have sabers, lances and pikes. Interesting.

The Brits and the Germans still had lancer units during World War I. They quickly learned that the lance was not particularly effective against machine guns...
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The Brits and the Germans still had lancer units during World War I. They quickly learned that the lance was not particularly effective against machine guns...View attachment 195916
I was talking more about the geometric shape of the lance head. I’m supprised they still used them in WW1. A hideous designe to be sure.
 
Thanks for posting this great photo and the information on the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry!
 
Lances vs. panzers. That wasn't going to end well.

So were sabers vs. panzers much of an improvement?

I was talking more about the geometric shape of the lance head. I’m supprised they still used them in WW1. A hideous designe to be sure.

I am not sure lances were banned. I do know some bayonets were banned due to the types of wounds caused by geometric shaped of the blades not being treatable. So a 50 caliber machinegun bullet wound was somehow "more treatable"?
 
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