11/11/2022
Happy Veterans Day to all who have served. Thank You.
From 1861 to 1865, nearly 100,000 men from Philadelphia served in the Union Army during the Civil War. The last Philly man standing was William Henry Jackaway of 2621 N. Hutchinson Street, a veteran of 40 battles and skirmishes, who died at age 103 on April 22, 1944.
William Henry Jackaway was born in Northern Liberties on December 14, 1840, the fourth of seven children (eldest of three boys) belonging to Samuel and Henrietta Geickel Jackaway. Samuel worked as a plasterer and often moved his family to be near the new home construction boom in Northern Liberties, Kensington, and Fishtown. The Jackaway family lived on the following streets:
1840 to 1841: 2nd Street near Dana (Dana no longer exists, it was just north of Buttonwood).
1842 to 1848: Rose Street near William (no longer exists, was near 2nd and Germantown).
1849 to 1850: O'Neil below Franklin (O'Neil below Girard).
1851 to 1852: Cherry below West (Montgomery below Belgrade).
1853 to 1859: Coral above Dauphin.
1860 to 1861: 1229r Savery (Savery later became Oxford Street---near Oxford and Thompson).
William attended elementary school until the age of 12, when his father got him a job as a laborer. By age 19, he worked with Samuel Sr. as a plasterer's helper. William was also a volunteer fireman, as was his younger brother, Joseph, with the William Penn Hose Company, located on Frankford Avenue below Girard.
On August 10, 1861, four months after the start of the Civil War, William and Joseph enlisted with the 72nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The regiment was nicknamed Baxter's Philadelphia Fire Zouaves because it was heavily recruited from Philly's volunteer fire companies. Six months later, their youngest brother, Samuel Jr., enlisted in the 90th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
Their father, Samuel Sr., who was approaching his 60th birthday, could not bear to stay behind while his three boys were off fighting in the war. So, on August 18, 1862, he colored his white beard with boot black, trimmed 15 years off of his age, and enlisted in the 68th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Before leaving Philadelphia, he placed his wife and youngest daughter in the care of one of his sons-in-law, Henry Ritner, a Philadelphia policeman, who lived at 130 Master Street (Master and Howard).
On September 17, 1862, William, Joseph, and Samuel Jr. all participated in the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day in American history (nearly 3,700 men were killed, and more than 17,000 were wounded). One of the wounded was Samuel Jr.
From December 12-15, 1862, all four Jackaway men participated in the Battle of Fredericksburg, a resounding Confederate victory with more than 13,000 Union casualties.
Samuel Sr. and Samuel Jr. both saw action during the Battle of Chancellorsville (April 30 - May 6, 1863). Chancellorsville was another big win for General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, with more than 17,000 Union casualties. For the second time, Samuel Jr. was wounded.
General Lee brought the war to Pennsylvania in mid-June 1863. After crossing the Mason-Dixon line on June 16, Confederate raiding parties (in response to Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation) were sent to Mercersburg, Chambersburg, and Mechanicsburg to search out ex-slaves. As many as 1,000 African-Americans (some free-born) were taken captive and shipped South to be sold as slaves.
On June 30, both General Lee and his Union counterpart, General George Meade, ordered their armies to converge on Gettysburg. Meade's order included all four of the Jackaway men. The Battle of Gettysburg took place July 1-3.
Samuel Jr. fought on Seminary Ridge on the first day of the battle (his regiment suffered a 50% casualty rate). Samuel Sr. and the 68th Pa. were late to the fight, coming from Emmitsburg, Maryland, some 12 miles away. While still a good distance from Gettysburg, the fighting could be heard, and their march turned into a run as General Daniel Sickles raced to get his men to the battlefield. Samuel Sr.'s age betrayed him, and he could not keep pace. He took ill and was not able to fight.
On the second day of the battle, William and Joseph supported the defense of the stone wall near the "Bloody Angle" on Cemetery Ridge.
On the third day of the battle, William and Joseph were held back in reserve near a copse of trees when all hell broke out at 1 p.m. The Confederate artillery sent a barrage of cannon fire onto Cemetery Ridge, and the Union artillery answered with a barrage onto Seminary Ridge. For nearly two hours, the cannons blasted away at each other. Confederate Brigadier General Evander Law later wrote: "The cannonade presented one of the most magnificent battle scenes witnessed during the war. Looking up the valley towards Gettysburg, the hills on either side were capped with crowns of flame and smoke, as 300 guns, about equally divided between the two ridges, vomited their iron hail upon each other."
Then, at 3 p.m., came General George Pickett's ill-fated charge. The copse of trees where William and Joseph were positioned (about 80 yards behind the Bloody Angle) was the focal point of some 12,500 charging rebels. General Lewis Armistead and 1,500 of his finest Virginians breached the stone wall near the Bloody Angle.
On the front line, the 71st Pa. was pushed back and nearly routed. Armistead's men captured two Union cannons. He ordered that they be turned around on the Yankees, but there was no more ammunition left to fire, it having been exhausted during the Confederate advance. After a few minutes of confusion, William, Joseph, and the rest of the 72nd engaged the enemy for thirty minutes of fierce, hand-to-hand combat. They succeeded in closing the gap in the Union's line and held the wall.
On the 75th anniversary of the battle, William described the charge to a reporter for the Harrisburg Evening News: "I judge we waited until they were a square away before we opened fire. Then we opened canister on them until they reached the cannon mouths. It was hand to hand combat from then on. As the Rebels came up to the wall at the Bloody Angle, we shook hands with them to pull them down; that's how close we were." When asked if he heard the Union troops cheer in admiration of Pickett's courage, he said, "No, I guess at a time like that all anybody was doing was looking out for himself." Of the 12,500 Southern soldiers who made the charge, more than 6,200 were either killed, wounded, or captured.
On August 19, 1863, Samuel Sr. was transferred to the Invalid Corps (later known as the Veteran Reserve Corps) and saw no further action. He was discharged from the army on April 24, 1864. Upon returning to Philadelphia, he moved to 1 Ridley (Miller Street) Avenue (Miller and Berks).
William, Joseph, and Samuel Jr. all participated in the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-7, 1864), Cold Harbor (June 1-12, 1864), and the Siege of Petersburg (June 16-August 20, 1864).
During the first week of August 1864, the 72nd was pulled from the Siege at Petersburg and was sent back to Philadelphia to muster out, as its three-year term of enlistment expired. Of the nearly 1,600 men who left Philadelphia with the regiment in 1861, less than 550 returned on August 12, 1864 (the others having been killed, wounded, captured, deserted, or died from disease).
Waiting to greet them at the train station (Broad Street and Washington Avenue) were members of City Council who marched with them down Washington Avenue to the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon at Swanson Street, where they were treated to a nice meal. Afterward, 45 fire companies, many with steam engines and some with 8 and 10-horse teams, honored them with a parade from the saloon to Independence Hall. William later recalled that as they passed St. Peter's Church at 3rd and Pine Streets, the chimes played Old Lang Syne. William and Joseph returned to their parents on August 24, 1864. William went back to working with his father as a plasterer, and Joseph became a house painter. Samuel Jr. remained in the Army for the duration of the war and returned home on July 1, 1865.
In 1867, the Jackaway family moved to 1935 Germantown Avenue (near 6th and Norris). Living just around the corner from them at 2020 N. 6th Street was a 20-year-old beauty named Adaline Lutz. William fell for her the moment they met, and it wasn't long before Adaline felt the same way about him. They began to keep company, and by Christmas 1867, Adaline was pregnant. She was five months along when they married at the home of a minister at Front and Girard on May 27, 1868.
William and Adaline set up house on North 6th Street just below Girard Avenue. Over the next 23 years, they would have nine children, though sadly, just four of them survived to adulthood. In 1870, they moved into the house of Adaline's late father (Samuel Lutz, who had died earlier that year) at 2020 N. 6th Street (below Diamond). They would remain there for 10 years. In 1880, they moved to 2139 Lawrence Street (near 5th and Diamond).
In 1893, William and Adaline, along with their four surviving children (William Jr., Retta, Kate, and Mae), moved to 2163 Manakin (Reese) Street (near 5th and Susquehanna). In May of that year, William joined a committee of 72nd Pa. veterans who took the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association to court over the construction of an electric trolley.
The 72nd fought the GBMA five years earlier over the placement of the Regimental monument. The GBMA had placed the memorial 80 yards behind the Bloody Angle, their position on the second and third day of the battle. The 72nd, though, demanded to set a new statue right at the Bloody Angle, where they had charged forward and closed the gap. The 72nd won the fight. The GBMA now wanted to build an electric trolley for tourists that would pass right in front of the stone wall at the Bloody Angle. To the veterans of the 72nd, that was hallowed ground, not to be disturbed. The old boys in blue also won that fight, and the trolley route was changed.
Samuel Sr. passed away at age 92 on December 6, 1897. At the time of his death, he lived at 606 Moyer Street (Montgomery and Moyer, where the Miles Lederer city pool is today). During his last years, he liked to smoke his pipe and walk to the Kensington wharves. His wife, Henrietta, died two months later at 91.
William belonged to the General D. B. Birney GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) Post #63, headquartered at 2134 Germantown Ave (Germantown and Susquehanna). The Birney Post was very active in the community and never failed to parade on Decoration (Memorial) Day. Each of its members was assured that their funeral expenses would be paid and that they would be laid to rest with military honors and a firing guard. In 1899, William was elected to be "Officer of the Guard." On November 26, 1908, a parade and flag raising was held for the opening of Birney Post Park, the triangular strip of land bordered by 6th Street, and Germantown and Susquehanna Avenues.
In 1906, William and Adaline moved to 2245 N. Fairhill Street (near 6th and Dauphin) along with their daughters Retta and Mae (neither of them ever married) and their son William Jr. (he was widowed in 1905 after just three years of marriage). In 1910, they moved to 2054 Marshall Street (near 7th and Diamond), where they would live for the next 18 years.
In 1913, William, Joseph, and Samuel Jr. traveled to Gettysburg for the 50th anniversary of the battle. It was the largest Civil War reunion ever held, attracting more than 53,000 veterans. On July 3, 1913, the three brothers stood together near the Bloody Angle and watched as survivors of the 71st Pa. charged the wall from the north while survivors of Pickett's outfit charged the wall from the south. When they met at the wall, they planted their flags, clasped hands, and buried their faces on each other's shoulders. Also, General Armistead's captured sword was returned to his family.
William retired from plastering at age 75 in 1915. Samuel Jr. passed away on October 26, 1926, at age 82, and Joseph joined him on October 2, 1927, two weeks shy of his 85th birthday. In 1929, William and Adaline moved for the final time, to 2621 N. Hutchinson Street (near 9th and Huntingdon). Adaline died there on March 13, 1931, at age 83.
The ranks of Civil War veterans dwindled drastically during the 1930s, and the once numerous GAR posts found it necessary to consolidate. By 1935, the Birney GAR Post #63 merged with other posts to form the General George Meade GAR Post #2, headquartered at 667 N. 12th Street (near 12th and Fairmount). Over the years, William served as post commander and chaplain.
On Memorial Day 1936, William attended a service at the Post and then planted flags at Monument Cemetery. On Memorial Day 1937, he was one of seven Civil War veterans who braved the heat on the reviewing stand at Independence Hall as 40,000 veterans of the Spanish-American War and the First World War paraded up Chestnut Street.
At that time, just 63 Civil War veterans from Philadelphia were still living. On November 16, 1937, William received an honorary membership from the Veterans of Foreign Wars at the Fairhill VFW Post, 8th and Clearfield Streets. In December 1937, he was again elected as GAR Meade Post #2 Commander but resigned after just one month because of ill health.
On June 30, 1938, William was feeling well enough to attend the 75th-anniversary ceremonies at Gettysburg. He was the lone survivor of Philadelphia's Fire Zouave Regiment, and on July 1, he visited their monument at the Bloody Angle. William openly wept as he caressed the granite base of the statue. He told an Inquirer staff reporter: "They were a fine bunch, and don't ever forget it --- they stopped that Pickett fellow. This is the place where we stood up with our rifles in our hands, and the rebels were coming so fast and thick that we couldn't shoot. We had to swing our muskets around our heads and use them like clubs. This is the place where so many of the boys I had soldiered with so long were killed. This marker says the 72nd Pennsylvania Volunteers, but we were all from Philadelphia. Don't forget that. It was Philadelphia that saved the battle of Gettysburg for the North."
On December 14, 1940, William turned 100 years old. He was given two birthday parties on that day. At 2 p.m., the Sons of Union Veterans Philadelphia Camp 200 held a luncheon in William's honor at their hall at 667 N. 12th Street (which they shared with GAR Meade Post 2). He told those gathered that he still enjoyed dancing and playing cards and asked if anyone wanted to take him on. Then that evening, more than 500 people attended a dinner at Adams Hall (13th and Spring Garden) thrown for William by the Fairview VFW Post. When asked if he had any regrets, he replied, "I wish that I still had a job. I'm tired of taking it easy." He attributed his long life to "No drinking, no chewing, and no smoking." His daughter, Retta, told a reporter, "His appetite, hearing, and eyesight are good. He sleeps late but stays up until after midnight. He often goes for automobile rides and up until a year ago, went to the movies two and three times a week."
President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a letter congratulating him on his centenary writing: "I have learned that you have attained the 100th anniversary of your birth. I have much pleasure, therefore, in extending to you my hearty congratulations and sincere wishes that your days be filled with peace and happiness." William said that FDR's letter thrilled him as much as the time when Abraham Lincoln passed him in review on horseback, "with his long legs almost touching the ground."
On April 6, 1941, the 75th anniversary of the founding of the GAR, William told reporters: "I'm ready to fight Adolf Hi**er any time, any style, anywhere. I'm ready to pick up a gun tomorrow and fight to keep the American flag flying. I'd pick up a cannon. I believe in standing up for our rights. America asks no help off anybody. Always stood on her own two feet. Hi**er is a bag of wind. I've got no use for him." On December 14, 1941, his 101st birthday (one week after Pearl Harbor), William said that he wished he was 75 years younger to go fight the Japanese.
By February 1942, Philadelphia had just two Civil War veterans left, William Jackaway and Robert Carson of 50 E. Sedgwick Street in Mount Airy. Carson emigrated from County Antrim, Ireland, in 1864 and joined the Union Army (Co. K, 215th Pa. Volunteers) on April 8, 1865 (Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant the next day). His four-month military career consisted of guarding Confederate prisoners in Dover, Delaware. In 1871, Carson founded the Franklin Carpet Mills at Huntingdon Avenue and Trenton Street in Kensington and became a millionaire. When he died on January 9, 1943, William became Philadelphia's last Civil War veteran.
During the last two years of his life, William suffered from heart disease and was not well enough to participate in Memorial Day services in 1942 and 1943. On December 14, 1943, his 103rd birthday, the old soldier put on his Civil War uniform one last time and saluted for the Inquirer's photographer.
William quietly died in his sleep at 3:15 a.m. on the morning of April 22, 1944. He was buried with full military honors on April 27 at Northwood Cemetery in West Oak Lane. The last Civil War veteran in Pennsylvania was Charles Duckworth of 115 Liberty Street, Newtown, Bucks County, who died at age 102 on April 10, 1949. The Grand Army of the Republic was dissolved in 1956 after the death of Albert Woolson of Duluth, Minnesota, the last Union Army veteran.
Researched and written by Bob McNulty, August 19, 2017.
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