Days Before Antietam, He Volunteered to Defend Pennsylvania

Carte de visite by Coble of Newport, Pa. Antietam conjures up images of dead soldiers strewn across the Maryland battlefield. Spots where the hottest action took place, the Bloody Lane, the Cornfield, and Dunker Church, are part of the American lexicon. We remember the record number of dead in a single day—3,654.

Here's a face that represents a forgotten part of the Antietam Campaign. On Sept. 11, 1862, 18-year-old Jacob Coble responded to Gov. Andrew J. Curtin's call the previous day for 50,000 Pennsylvanians to defend the Keystone State against the invading Confederate army already in Maryland. Coble left the family farm in Monroe and made the short trip to Mechanicsburg, which lay just a couple miles southwest of the state capital at Harrisburg. He enlisted in Company F of the 1st Pennsylvania State Militia—effectively becoming a member of the National Guard.

Historian Samuel Bates summarized the governor's September 10 proclamation: Curtin called "on all able bodied men to enroll immediately for the defense of the State, and to hold themselves in readiness to march upon an hour's notice; to select officers, to provide themselves with such arms as could be obtained, with sixty rounds of ammunition to the man, tendering arms to such as had none, and promising that they should be held for service, for such time only as the pressing exigency for State defense should continue."

Within days, 25 state militia regiments formed to meet the moment. Coble numbered among the first responders, joining a contingent of about 20,000 volunteers to protect Harrisburg. Thousands more converged on Hagerstown and Boonsboro in Maryland, and in the vicinity of Greencastle and Chambersburg, Pa.

Tense days passed, during which Coble and the other green militiamen prepared for the very real possibility that they would face battle-hardened Confederates in a fight for the heart of Pennsylvania. But the turning back of the Confederates at Antietam on September 17 ended the threat and the emergency.

A grateful Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, commander of the Union army that stopped Gen. Robert E. Lee and his forces, wrote to Gov. Curtin: "Fortunately, circumstances rendered it impossible for the enemy to set foot upon the soil of Pennsylvania, but the moral support rendered to my army by your action, was none the less mighty. In the name of my army, and for myself, I again tender to you our acknowledgments for your patriotic course. The manner in which the people of Pennsylvania responded to your call, and hastened to the defense of their frontier, no doubt exercised a great influence upon the enemy."

Coble mustered out on September 25. He returned home with his older brother, Daniel, who also volunteered, and rejoined his aging parents and other siblings.

About 1867, Coble moved to Newport, Pa., and embarked on his life's work as a photographer. He's pictured here early in his career. Locals dropped by his studio for portraits in all the latest and ever-changing styles, plus a variety of frames and related items, including an assortment of stereoviews by Gettysburg photographer William H. Tipton, for whom Coble acted as a local agent. Coble also traveled with his camera to numerous places and events to capture the likenesses of fellow citizens and views of the town and other points of interest.

Active in the Masons and as a family man with his wife, Fannie, and several children, Coble died in 1924 at age 80. His remains rest in Newport Cemetery marked by a family head and foot stones. In 1936, the Pennsylvania Department of Military Affairs documented his gravesite and enlistment in the 1st State Militia with the notation "Served for 12 days."

I encourage you to use this image for educational purposes only. However, please ask for permission.

Taken on: November 25, 2023

Tags:

carte de visite

civil war

Newport

Mechanicsburg

Monroe

Pennsylvania

antietam

emergency

militia. Governor

curtain

state

militia

volunteer

photographer « less

Sets appears in: • Identified soldiers

Groups appears in: • Veterans of the American Civil War • Civil War Era Portraits more » • The 1860s « less

Stats: 1,699 views