This is the New Testament and family chronicle of Hiram R. Kline who was enlisted and commissioned as Captain of Company G, PA 21st Infantry (State Militia) on September 15th, 1862. In response to the recent defeat at Manassas, Pennsylvania Governor Curtin issued a proclamation on September 4th, to arms, gather for drill, and prepare for defense, calling for 50,000 men. On the 10th, he issued a General Order for enrollment, gathering of arms, issuing of 60 rounds of ammunition, selection of officers, etc. They concentrated at the capitol of Harrisburg and one Regiment, and an additional eight companies were immediately consolidated and sent forward. By the 14th the engagement at South Mountain had commenced and the following three days the battle of Antietam was fought. By the 15th, 15,000 PA men moved forward to Hagerstown and Boonsboro where they stood in line of battle in close proximity of the fighting awaiting orders to move forward or hold the line in the event of further incursion. Ten thousand more made it to Greencastle and Chambersburg and Curtin stated he had twenty thousand who were in transit or already in Harrisburg being organized.<\/p>\n
The Confederate forces were turned back at Antietam and the PA militia of 1862 were never engaged. Still General McClelland commended them heartily for their willingness and presence stating it strengthened the morale of the Army of the Potomoc, knowing they were there and ready, such that it had “mighty” results on the field of battle. By September 24th they were being sent back to Harrisburg in accordance with the conditions of their service and subsequently mustered out. Hiram Kline was officially mustered out on September 30th, 1862. Family history indicates a belief that he continued to serve in some capacity or at least again later served and was present in uniform at the battle of Gettysburg. I did not attempt to go further indepth beyond my initial findings which indicated only his 1862 service. He was already an established family man at the time of the war, his inscription in the front is dated 1848, and his rather extensive family chronicle of children’s births and baptism (6) began in 1854 and goes throughout the war to 1867. (including May 1862 and January 1864, meaning they were expecting during the battle of Gettysburg) Unsung and not as sensational a story as some, but a citizen patriot none the less and worthy of honor. I love these kind of stories, rich with character that transcend simple conventional history. Many times, a family member is somewhat defined by such things; at some point at least a few in the later generations of this family seemed to have characterized him so. Great candidate for more study and work.<\/p>\n
A German Lutheran family, the Testament frontispiece indicates directly from Luther’s Translation, with a Philadelphia publication date of 1844. Leather cover with typical rubs and wear to the edges for it’s age, as seen in photos. The book is sound with just a few pages near the center a bit loose but not separated. The handwritten family chronicle is on back-to-back pages and there is fading and bleed-through to the ink but still all discernable with a little patience. Worthy of more detailed research. Initial record of his PA 21st Infantry service dates and synopsis of the PA militia service of 1862 provided.<\/p>\n
With the smaller type wartime veteran identified Testaments often fetching $200.00+ this is a bargain price in my book, and a rare look at interesting Civil War history. (CWPG)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is the New Testament and family chronicle of Hiram R. Kline who was enlisted and commissioned as Captain of Company G, PA 21st Infantry (State Militia) on September 15th, 1862. In response to the recent defeat at Manassas, Pennsylvania Governor Curtin issued a proclamation on September 4th, to arms, gather for drill, and prepare […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":17030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[39],"product_tag":[],"giftcard-category":[],"class_list":["post-14384","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","product_cat-original-artifacts","first","instock","sale","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sutleroffortscott.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/14384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sutleroffortscott.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sutleroffortscott.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sutleroffortscott.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sutleroffortscott.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sutleroffortscott.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sutleroffortscott.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=14384"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sutleroffortscott.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=14384"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sutleroffortscott.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=14384"},{"taxonomy":"giftcard-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sutleroffortscott.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/giftcard-category?post=14384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}