Part I

Tobias was born October 19, 1837, on a farm in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, five miles south of Carlisle. The farm was located on the banks of the Yellow Breeches Creek, which remains one of the best trout fishing rivers in Pennsylvania. A few miles east of the farm was an area known as Boiling Springs. The Boiling Springs Tavern was founded in 1832 on property adjacent to the bubbling springs that gave the area its name. In 1845, Daniel Kauffman, no direct relation to Tobias, founded the village of Boiling Springs on property he purchased from his father, Abraham. Today Boiling Springs remains a thriving community whose residents are acutely aware and deeply proud of their heritage. In 1995, the people of Boiling Springs celebrated the sesquicentennial of their town and produced a lovely book on their first one hundred and fifty years entitled At a Place Called the Boiling Springs. Tobias found a prominent place in the book's chapter on the military history of the town's citizens.

Cumberland County is located in the Cumberland Valley of central Pennsylvania. In 1863, during the celebrated invasion of the Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania, General Robert E. Lee's Second Corps, under the command of General Richard Ewell, marched through the Cumberland Valley within a few miles of Tobias's home place. In fact, General J. E. B. Stuart and many of his cavalry crossed the Yellow Breeches at Boiling Springs during the early morning hours of July 2, 1863. Stuart was trying desperately to reunite with Lee's infantry in time to make a contribution toward a Confederate victory at Gettysburg. He was too late. While Stuart was passing through Tobias's hometown, Tobias was marching toward Gettysburg from the east. Tobias would arrive that day in time to charge down Little Round Top and help stop an impassioned Confederate assault on the left wing of the Army of the Potomac. General James Longstreet, Lee's "Old Warhorse," proudly and deservedly called the efforts of his First Corps "the best three hours fighting ever done by any troops on a battlefield." However, we are getting ahead of ourselves. When Tobias was born to Benjamin and Martha Kauffman on their farm in 1837, no one could know that the greatest battle ever fought on American soil would take place some thirty miles away and that Tobias would be there.

Tobias grew up in a large Mennonite family. His father, Benjamin, was a member of the New Mennonite church. That was a branch of the Mennonite church that was very conservative and committed to the traditional Mennonite teachings of pacifism and strict moral purity. Tobias was a devoted Christian. In three letters written to his sister Susan during the early months of the war, Tobias refers to his interest in his faith and his hometown Sunday school. (See appendix 5 for a copy of the letters. For a summary of the Kauffmann family background, see appendix 6. See appendix 7 for a biographical sketch of Tobias B. Kaufman's father, Benjamin Kauffman. See appendix 8 for info on two cemeteries in the Boiling Springs area where family members of Tobias B. Kaufman are buried.) During his forty years in Belmond, Iowa, after the war, Tobias developed a reputation as a Christian gentleman beyond reproach. The fascinating question unfolds as one studies Tobias's military career, "How could a young man who truly honored his Mennonite heritage and upbringing become such a hard-nosed fighter who participated so willingly and fervently in the Civil War?" Certainly the cause inspired him! He was a committed patriot who believed in preserving the Union. It is also likely that he held abolitionist principles. Many in the Mennonite church were involved in the Underground Railroad. Daniel Kauffman, who founded the village of Boiling Springs, was a Mennonite who was fined often and dearly for his participation in the Underground Railroad. That Tobias was willing to fight in the Civil War as a Mennonite was unusual but not unprecedented. That this Mennonite farmer/ teacher demonstrated such a remarkable ability for military leadership and an aggressive fighting spirit does make his story rare.

It is not surprising that Tobias grew up strong, disciplined, and welleducated. Such qualities might be expected of children raised on a Mennonite farm. At one time, his father owned as many as 260 acres of farmland in the Boiling Springs area. Tobias had several sisters but only one brother, Benjamin Jr. Tobias must have spent countless hours at hard labor on the family farm. Tobias was also devoted to learning. He was a teacher when the Civil War began. He was also attending a Normal school, which was a school to train teachers. In April 1861, Tobias was a single man of twenty-three.

Like so many other Pennsylvanians, Tobias volunteered in 1861 when Lincoln extended his initial call for 75,000 troops. Pennsylvania's quota was quickly filled, leaving thousands of young men like Tobias with no unit in which to serve. Governor Andrew Curtin quickly remedied the situation. Curtin was a staunch defender of the Union war effort and an outspoken opponent of the Confederate cause. It was his belief that Pennsylvania needed an army of state troops to guard against any Confederate attacks that might come from Virginia through Maryland. Curtin called for the formation of a Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps that would be composed of thirteen regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry, and one regiment of artillery. On June 8, 1861, Tobias was mustered into the First Pennsylvania Reserves as a member of Company I. Following the Union defeat at the battle of first Bull Run, it became apparent that the Union was going to need thousands more soldiers to defend the capital and to prosecute the war successfully. Lincoln extended an urgent call for more troops. The Pennsylvania Reserve Corps had already been formed during the months of June and July, and Governor Curtin immediately released them for service in the federal army. Within weeks, the Reserves were stationed near Washington DC, and their presence near Washington was a great relief to Lincoln and the residents of the capital.

Tobias was mustered into service at Camp Wayne, West Chester, Pennsylvania, on June 6, 1861. A Declaration of Pension Certificate dated on Tobias's seventy-fifth birthday, August 19, 1912, and signed by Tobias states that he was mustered into service as a private. It also states that during Tobias's time of service in the First Pennsylvania Reserves, he held the ranks of corporal, second lieutenant, captain, and major. His first promotions came quickly. Copies of his pay requests acquired from the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg indicate that he was being paid as a second lieutenant as early as June 21, 1861. In November 1861, Company I had a vacancy at captain. An election by the members of Company I was held. The two candidates for the position were First Lieutenant Isaac Graham and Tobias. Tobias won by a narrow margin. The vote was 42-39. After five months of service, Tobias was now captain of his company. He had no prewar military experience and no political connections to aid his advancement. He was simply a natural leader who quickly gained the confidence of his fellow soldiers and the respect of his superiors. (For further information on the organization of the Pennsylvania Reserves and how Civil War armies in general were organized, see appendix 9.) Tobias tells his sister, Susan, about his election as captain in a letter written to her dated November 24, 1861. He does not mention this important news until near the conclusion and then only in an offhanded manner: "I have been elected Captain of the company but do not act as such until I receive my commission. It is a very responsible post but I think I am able for it and intend trying to do my duty." His Mennonite upbringing is well reflected in his humility and devotion to duty. As we shall see, he was more than able for his duties as captain.

The Pennsylvania Reserves spent the fall and winter months of 1861-62 in the environs of Washington DC undergoing military training. Like most of the Union troops under McClellan's command in the east, they saw very little combat during their first year of service. However, the Reserves made up for their first year's inactivity with plenty of hard fighting during the next two years. Most of the regiments in the Reserves completed their three years of service on May 31, 1864. They spent their last day of active service fighting the battle of Bethesda Church near Richmond.

During the fall of 1861, the Reserves participated in two dramatic military ceremonies. On September 10, at Tenally town near Washington, the regiments in the Pennsylvania Reserves received their official regimental flags. Those present for the occasion were President Abraham Lincoln, Secretary of War Simon Cameron, General George McClellan, Governor Andrew Curtin, and other dignitaries. Governor Curtin was welcomed by President Lincoln, and then he presented the regimental flags to the colonel of each regiment. Accompanying Governor Curtin in presenting the flags was the first commanding general of the Reserves, George McCall. Following the presentations, Governor Curtin stood on the seat of his carriage and addressed the men of the Reserves. Tobias and the remainder of the First Reserves were present on that memorable day. (For an account of the event see J. R. Sypher's History of the Pennsylvania Reserves, Part One, pages 114-18.)

The Pennsylvania Reserves were also privileged to participate in an even grander event on November 20. On that day, a grand review of a major portion of the Army of the Potomac was conducted by President Lincoln and General George McClellan. The number of troops reviewed was 75,000. Tobias describes the event in a letter to his sister, Susan, dated November 24, 1861. Tobias states that it was the "largest body of men ever reviewed at one time on this continent" and that he "saw President Lincoln, General McClellan and staff, Secretaries Cameron and Seward and a number of other distinguished persons." (See appendix 5, Letter 2, for Tobias's full account of the event).

The first major combat in which Tobias participated was the Seven Days battles of June and July 1862. During the war, Union and Confederate troops often gave different names to the same battle. The Union troops were inclined to use the name of the closest river whereas the Confederates preferred the name of the closest town. For example, the Union used the name Bull Run, while the Confederates used the name Manassas for the first major battle of the war. In this account, where there is a difference in the name of a battle, I will normally use the name that Tobias would most likely have used as a Union soldier.

McClellan had led his Army of the Potomac on the Peninsula campaign in the spring of 1862. Most of his army had traveled by water to Fortress Monroe on the tip of the Virginia peninsula. From the fort, the army slowly, steadily made its way up the peninsula until by June the army was within a few miles of Richmond. The Pennsylvania Reserves had been assigned to Irvin McDowell's First Corps and were stationed near Fredericksburg, Virginia, throughout most of the spring. It was not until June 9 that the Reserves were released from McDowell and assigned to Fitz-John Porter's Fifth Corps of McClellan's army. They arrived in mid-June and were placed on the far-right wing of the army in the most advanced position near the village of Mechanicsville. Along with the remainder of the Fifth Corps, they were positioned north of the Chickahominy River in what was to be an exposed position at the outset of the Seven Days battles. From their location, the Reserves were close enough to Richmond to see church spires in the distance and to hear the church bells ringing. Tobias and his comrades must have entertained thoughts of entering Richmond as military conquerors. However, Mechanicsville was as close as Tobias and the Reserves ever got to Richmond during the Peninsula campaign. As fate would have it, in November 1864 Tobias did enter the Confederate capital, not as a victor, but as a prisoner. He was confined at the infamous Libby Prison.

During the Peninsula campaign, the division known as the Pennsylvania Reserves was led by their original commander, General George McCall, and was organized into three brigades. Tobias's regiment was known as the First Reserves (italicized below):

First Brigade Second Brigade Third Brigade

General John F. Reynolds General George Meade General Truman Seymour

First Reserves Third Reserves Sixth Reserves
Second Reserves Fourth Reserves Ninth Reserves
Fifth Reserves Seventh Reserves Tenth Reserves
Eighth Reserves Eleventh Reserves Twelfth Reserves
Thirteenth Reserves

Generals Reynolds and Meade emerged during the war as two of the leading generals in the Union army. The soldiers of the Thirteenth Reserves, better known as the Bucktails, became famous during the war as superior woodsmen and marksmen. Few regiments in the Union army gained greater celebrity. Each man in the regiment wore a squirrel's or deer's tail in his cap as testimony to his shooting skill. They were best known as a frontline skirmishing unit and found themselves in many hot spots during the war. They fought in the same brigade as Tobias throughout most of their three years of service (1861-64).

The Union Fifth Corps was an inviting target for the coming Confederate offensive launched by Robert E. Lee and his leading generals, James Longstreet, A. P. Hill, Daniel H. Hill, and Stonewall Jackson. On June 25, 1862, an intense series of battles began during which McClellan's Army of the Potomac was pushed back from the threshold of Richmond. The rapid succession of battles became known as the Seven Days battles. Six major battles were fought in those seven days. McClellan saved his army by executing a change of supply base from the Pamunkey River to the James River. The Union army also inflicted greater casualties on the continually attacking Confederate forces, but the victory went to the Army of Northern Virginia for saving Richmond and ending McClellan's Peninsula campaign.

The Reserves were intensely involved in three of the six battles. The first battle of the Seven Days was initiated by Union troops south of the Chickahominy. It is known as the battle of Oak Grove. Neither side gained a victory or a tactical advantage. One reporter sized up the matter well when he called the engagement the "battle of casualties." The two sides lost 1,100 casualties between them, and the armies finished the day where they started (William J. Miller, "The Battle of Oak Grove," Civil War A Magazine of the Civil War Society,, June 1995, pages 55-56).

The second battle of the Seven Days was the battle of Beaver Dam Creek (also known as Mechanicsville). It was fought on June 26. This was the first battle that Robert E. Lee planned and executed as the commander of the newly named Army of Northern Virginia. Lee was present on the field to watch the battle and to see how his troops would perform against the Union forces behind Beaver Dam Creek. The Union soldiers he watched that day were the men of the Pennsylvania Reserves. They were the only Union troops engaged in the battle. They held an excellent defensive position behind Beaver Dam Creek and the swamps lining the creek on either side. The Reserves were happy to hand Lee a defeat in his first battle. They could only have wished that every fight against Lee and his charges would turn out similarly.

Lee's battle plan was for Stonewall Jackson's troops, recently arrived from their famed Shenandoah Valley campaign in the spring of 1862, to turn the right or northern flank of the Reserves, thereby compromising their position and forcing them to retreat. This flanking movement was to be accompanied by a direct advance of A. P. Hill's troops against the fleeing or otherwise engaged troops of the Reserves. Daniel H. Hill and James Longstreet were to follow up on A. P. Hill's attack. Lee's plan, however, was not carried out. His plan was aggressive and workable; but bad communications, bad maps, and bad roads helped the Pennsylvania Reserves earn a hard-fought victory. Jackson was delayed, and inaccurate maps compounded his problems. A. P. Hill was expecting Jackson to begin his battle in the early morning hours. Jackson was six hours behind schedule. In the late morning, Jackson sent word of his delay to one of Hill's brigade commanders. That message was never passed on to A. P. Hill. By 3:00 p.m., Hill was anxious and angry. He decided to take matters into his own hands. Without consulting Lee, he launched his division in an all-out attack on the well-protected lines of the Reserves. That proved to be a costly mistake. Hill expected that Jackson would be positioned on the Reserves' flank to join him in the assault. Fortunately for the Reserves, Jackson was not there.