John P. Irwin

A Quaker Soldier in the Civil War: Letters from the Front John P. Irwin

An in-depth narrative about a young soldier from Clearfield, PA who enlisted in the 149th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in 1862. Though a Quaker who was committed to pacifism, John F. Irwin also deeply opposed slavery and was hence committed to abolitionism. His abolitionism won out, and he served in the Army of the Potomac until the end in 1865. Three things defined the Civil War as a modern war: 1) the extensive use of railroads; 2) newspapers were represented on the battlefield by reporters, artists, and photographers, and 3) the telegraph system which made nearly instant communication available for the newspapers. Because of this availability of news from the front, a disappointing refrain in his letters home was "...but I don't need to go into details as you read all this in the newspapers." The 149th PVI regiment fought in all the major battles of the Army of the Potomac, battles such a Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Cold Harbor, the siege of Richmond-Petersburg. Toward the end they were sent to Elmira, NY to oversee the Rebel prison camp there and to escort new draftees to their assignments. John F. was eventually mustered out and discharged in July 1865.