Journal of the Company of Military Historians
79
Capt. John S. Wilson of Danville, Pennsylvania, 1840 to 1847 Randy W. Hackenburg
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he Treaty of Fort Stanwix, on 5 November 1768, secured for the colony of Pennsylvania a huge swathe of Indian land. This new acquisition was organized as Northumberland County in 1772 and much of northeastern and central Pennsylvania fell within its bounds.1 Not long thereafter, it began to be broken up into more manageable divisions. In 1813, the area somewhat east of the confluence of the north and west branches of the Susquehanna River was established as Columbia County, with the village of Danville as its seat.2 Within a relatively short time the martial spirit of its citizens began to express itself. A uniformed militia company calling itself the Columbia Guards sprang up about 1817 and reached some degree of maturity by 1820, with its membership being composed of the community’s up and coming young men.3 John S. Wilson was born, presumably in Danville, on 30 May 1813. He grew up with the town, becoming a machinist in an area that was prominent in the iron industry. The first iron T rail made in America would be rolled there on 8 October 1845. Around 1841, John married Martha J. Wilson and they started a family.4 John joined the Columbia Guards at an unknown date, probably in the early to mid 1830s. His name first appears in connection with the company when the members elected him captain on 4 July 1840. He held this office until 15 August 1842. During his captaincy, the Danville Encampment took place from Tuesday, 24 May, through Friday, 27 May 1842, and was highlighted by a visit from General-inChief of the U.S. Army Winfield Scott. Scott reviewed and complimented the troops at Camp Washington and was paraded around the town by the thirteen foot and mounted companies, composing nearly 550 men. The Columbia Guards played a significant role as one of the host companies.5 Early in September 1842, John S. Wilson received the appointment as quartermaster of the 1st Brigade, 8th Division, Pennsylvania Militia, under command of Brig. Gen. Robert H. Hammond of Milton, Pennsylvania. General Hammond was the son of a local Revolutionary War hero and he had served as a Regular Army officer in the War of 1812, before becoming whole-heartedly absorbed in the state militia of east-central Pennsylvania. As brigade commander, he had played his part in the Danville Encampment, while at the same time renewing his relationship with General Scott.6 On 31 January 1846, John S. Wilson was again elected captain of the Columbia Guards and on 4 May of that year, the company turned out for their spring parade sporting brand new uniforms. Nine days later Congress declared war on Mexico. In a meeting 23 May 1846, the Columbia Guards voted to
offer their services to the governor, volunteering to be part of any regiment from Pennsylvania called into active service, being the second company in the state to do so. Of course, Captain Wilson took the lead in this initiative and handled the responsibilities of seeing that his company was recruited full and his men were prepared to depart on short notice. After much waiting, along with a few false starts and discouragements, Wilson received notification on 21 November 1846 the Columbia Guards had been accepted into the second regiment of volunteers from Pennsylvania. The company left Danville early on 28 December, arriving at the rendezvous in Pittsburgh on Sunday, 3 January 1847. Upon organization, the Columbia Guards became Company C, 2d Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. Between 9 and 15 January, the regiment was on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers between Pittsburgh and New Orleans.7 Camp Jackson, to which the regiment was assigned, proved to be flood-prone low ground—part of the 1815 battlefield. Captain Wilson was among the first to feel the effects of the unhealthy conditions in camp. By 21 January, he was already unwell and spent some time in the city trying to recuperate. Then, very early on the twenty-third, a severe thunder storm ravaged the camp. Wilson described the scene in a letter to his wife: [The] water could not run off and in the morning the water was between two and three feet deep, so that all our trunks and baggage was floating about and the men walking around and collecting the things[.] our clothes and books & everything was wet through.
The very next day, the Guards boarded a ship with two other companies and lay at anchor in the river until the twentieth. For a short time poor and scanty rations became a serious complaint. Then the illnesses set in and six of Wilson’s company deserted, with one more being discharged on a surgeon’s certificate of disability.8 For the next two weeks life aboard ship proved to be a nightmare. The close quarters, poor food, and general unhealthy conditions took their toll. To make matters worse, severe storms on the Gulf of Mexico brought on debilitating seasickness. Finally, on 13 February, the ship Ocean dropped anchor off Lobos Island, where the three companies were allowed to go ashore. However, they were segregated from the other troops for fear that the illnesses experienced on the Ocean might infect others. They reboarded the Ocean on 1 March, setting sail two days later. On 9 March, both Pennsylvania regiments landed on the beach near Vera Cruz. The city was subsequently surrounded and bombarded into submission, surrendering on 29 March.9 After commanding his company through the siege, John
