Pittenger, William, 1840-1904

Scrapbook, 1887
48 pp.

Pittenger, William, 1840-1904
Rank:	Corporal, Sergeant
Regiment:	2nd Ohio Infantry Regiment. Co. G (1861-1865)
Service:	1861 September 5-1863 August 14

Background note:

William Pittenger enlisted with the 2nd Ohio Infantry Regiment shortly after the first Battle of Bull Run, anxious to serve his country. He served in campaigns in Kentucky and Tennessee, but his singular moment of glory came on the night of April 12th, 1862, when he and 21 other volunteers embarked on a secret raid deep into Confederate territory to cut the rail link between Marietta, Ga., and Chattanooga. At Kenesaw Mountain, the raiders pirated the engine General and headed off for Chattanooga, only to run out of fuel near Graysville. The Confederate engine in pursuit, the Texas, soon caught up with the men and all were captured in short order. J.J. Andrews and seven of his men were executed at Atlanta, and the others were imprisoned in Atlanta, where Pittenger says they were treated very well. At Atlanta, eight of the raiders managed to make their escape late at night and walk their way to the north in pairs. But Pittenger and the remaining raiders remained imprisoned, eventually being transferred to Castle Thunder in Richmond, until a parole was arranged in May, 1863. Weakened and ill from his imprisonment, Pittenger was discharged from the service on August 14th, 1863, on a surgeon's certificate of disability. For their part in the raid, Pittenger and his comrades were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Scope and Contents:

This scrapbook, assembled by an unknown person in about 1887, contains clippings of a series of newspaper articles written by William Pittenger on his experiences during the Andrews Railroad Raid into Georia in 1862. These articles were subsequently collected and published as a book titled Daring and suffering. Pittenger was also the author of several other reminiscences of the Andrews' Raid, including Twenty-five years after..., a sequel to Daring and suffering.

Also included in the scrapbook are articles on the Arkansas Post expedition, "Adventures of a young bride with the Union army," "The history of a Confederate military execution," and several stories of adventures in the secret service by a man who identifies himself as a Union spy.

References:

Pittenger, William. Daring and suffering, a history of the Andrews railroad raid into Georgia in 1862... (New York, 1887)

M-3004.2
Cat. 12/94 rsc

Link to subject index to the William Pittenger Scrapbook

Alphabetic index to the Schoff Civil War Collections

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