Civil War soldiers subject of Eberly book
So small it could fit in the palm of a hand, the black cloth-covered Civil War diary of Sgt. Thomas W. Springer of Uniontown nonetheless proved to be a treasure to Robert E. Eberly Jr. when he discovered it at the University of Virginia. “It was an incredible feeling – almost an epiphany,’ said Eberly of the diary kept by his great-great-uncle while a prisoner of war in Salisbury, N.C.
Springer, who enlisted in the Union army in 1861 at age 16, died in that prison camp of typhoid fever about 6 a.m. Monday, Nov. 29, 1864, just a few months before the war’s end.
His friend Sgt. James W. Eberhart, also of Uniontown, who continued to log entries in his own diary after his friend’s death, kept the final entries of Springer’s diary. They include this piece on the day Springer died: “Up at daylight and went in to see Tom & he was a dying & could not speak but seemed to know me by his Eyes. I stayed a while & got a lock of his hair & he was Carried to the dead house. Weather a little warmer today. Drew Bread & soup today. In evening, got wood. Tom Springer died today – one of my messmates and Bro. Sergts.’
The words touched Eberly, also a Uniontown native now retired from practicing law and living in Hilton Head, S.C. Eberly has been a Civil War enthusiast since his parents took him to Gettysburg for annual visits on their way to summer vacations at Virginia Beach, Va., or Atlantic City, N.J. Eberly also is a Civil War re-enactor and helped found the Low Country Civil War Round Table in Hilton Head.
Eberly found his ancestor’s diary in 1994. But it was a visit to his ancestor’s grave that same year, which produced a promise to write his book, “Bouquets From the Cannon’s Mouth: Soldiering with the Eighth Regiment of the Pennsylvania Reserves,’ published this past May by White Mane Publishing Co. Inc. of Shippensburg.
“The conditions were so terrible at the prison. They had no winter clothing, not enough tents. Many of them dug holes in the ground and burrowed in to get warm. There was a tremendous amount of sickness because there was no sanitation and very little food. The prisoners began to die at the rate of 30 to 40 a day and the Confederates began to dig mass graves. There were 18 trenches where they buried the prisoners who died,’ said Eberly. “Today, it’s a large meadow – a beautiful place. But you realize you’re walking over the trenches where 4,000 Union soldiers were buried.
“I visited it on a beautiful March day in 1994. The weather was crisp and I realized I was actually standing where (Springer) was buried,’ he continued. “That day I made a promise I would tell his story.’
The book, which features the lives of five Fayette County men during the Civil War, includes photographs, maps and the diaries of two men – Springer, who died, and Eberhart, who survived.
Fayette County residents will have the opportunity to hear Eberly talk about his book when he appears at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the Charles Wall Reading Room on the first floor of the Uniontown Public Library, located at 24 Jefferson St. Eberly also will sign books.
“I always love coming back there – I was pretty much born and raised in Uniontown,’ said Eberly. “I still have lots of friend there.’
Copies of Eberly’s book are available online from Amazon and Barnes and Nobel, while the Uniontown Public Library has a small number of copies.
In addition, The Blue & Gray Education Society, known as America’s Premier Civil War Education Group, chose “Bouquets From the Cannon’s Mouth’ as its October book selection.
Len Riedell, president, wrote this review, which reads in part: “Eberly is smart enough to let well lettered and articulate men tell their own story. With high quality material, Eberly’s job was to weave the story of this regiment in such a way as to not distract from their testimony. I am surprised that Bob was able to do this so tactfully. At no point did I ever feel there was anyone in the story other than the soldier and myself.’
Born and raised in Uniontown, Eberly earned an economics degree in 1966 from Cornell University and then a law degree in 1969 from the University of Pittsburgh. He worked a couple of years in Pittsburgh before returning to Uniontown, where he joined the firm of Ray, Buck, Margolis, Mahoney and John during the 1970s.
For a time, he was on the board of GNB Corp., which owned Gallatin National Bank, now National City Bank.
From 1984-91, Eberly was a trial attorney with the Air Force Contract Law Center at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, and then served as supervisory trial attorney, General Counsel’s Office, Department of the Navy, in Washington, D.C., from 1991-96, when he received the Meritorious Civilian Service Medal.
Eberly’s interest’s in the Civil War grew from those family visits to Gettysburg, which began when he was about 11 years old: “I was fascinated by it and I’ve been fascinated ever since.’
When living in the nation’s capital, Eberly’s wife, Kathy, began volunteering at the National Archives where she became interested in her family history and encouraged her husband to research his own.
“For all my interest in the Civil War, I never stopped to ponder whether any of my relatives fought in the war,’ said Eberly.
He discovered five ancestors from Fayette County who fought for the Union in the Army of the Potamac.
They included Springer, who is related to Eberly through his mother, Elizabeth “Betty’ Mitchell Eberly (whose mother was a Springer), who died in 1982; and Isaac Andrew Moore, Eberly’s great-great-grandfather, related to Eberly through his father, Uniontown businessman and philanthropist Robert E. Eberly Sr., who died last year, through his mother Ruth Moore Eberly.
“Isaac was also in prison. He survived and weighed 100 pounds when he came back to Uniontown. His mother didn’t recognize him. He was nursed back to health by a first cousin who he married. They had a son Hart Moore whom the blacksmith shop at Touchstone is named for,’ said Eberly.
These two ancestors are included in “Bouquets From the Cannon’s Mouth,’ the title taken from a speech given by North Carolina’s governor when Pennsylvania erected a monument in Salisbury, N.C., in 1910 to the Pennsylvania men who died at the Civil War prison camp.
Eberly’s other three ancestors who fought in the Civil War included Ellis Mitchell of Oliphant Furnace, (related through Eberly’s mother) who served in the cavalry; James Deets of present-day West Virginia, (also related through Eberly’s mother) who served with the 3rd West Virginia Cavalry; and John Leslie McCuen of Uniontown (related through Eberly’s father), who was a drummer boy in the 116th Pennsylvania infantry that formed the famed Irish Brigade.
Eberly chose to focus on Springer and Moore for his book because he used Springer’s diary as a springboard. He included these men as well as George Darby of Uniontown, James Eberhart of Fayette City and Ashbel (A.F.) Hill of Masontown, because they were all members of the 8th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Reserves.
Hill, who was wounded at Antietam and came back to Fayette County, became a writer, known for his Civil War book “Our Boys: Personal Experiences of a Soldier in the Army of the Potamac.’ Darby also wrote a book on his experiences called “Incidents and Adventures in Rebeldom: Libby, Belle-Isle, Salisbury.’
Eberly, who has great respect for these writings, said, “Anytime there was material written by the men themselves, I tried to use their words rather than mine. In many instances, people wrote more beautifully then – those who were educated. But even common people had important things to say.’
Asked what he hopes people will derive from his book, Eberly said, “Certainly the Civil War was a truly defining event in our nation’s history. And certainly, there is nothing glorious about war and for all the books written about generals, it’s really the common soldiers who bore the brunt of the sacrifices and got the job done.’