George Washington Houser
served in the Union Army during the American Civil War
77th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment
Company F and A
enlisted September 17, 1861
discharged April 12, 1865
George Washington Houser enlisted in the Civil War on September 17, 1861. He was a private in the 77th Infantry Regiment. Various references of the 77th Regiment are listed below for the reader to see the large number of miles that were marched throughout the Civil War Period by this band of people. George stayed in the military until the end of the war and was discharged on April 12, 1865.
During his military career, his mother was back in Fulton County, Pennsylvania taking care of younger siblings. George’s older sister, Jane Ellen Houser Richardson had four daughters, and lost her husband early in the war due to a war injury infection. These ladies were trying their best to survive in those days. All the meager funds that George earned were sent to his mother and his family’s welfare.
Battles fought by the 77th Infantry Regiment were from April 1862 in Shiloh, Tennessee, clear to Atlanta, Georgia and Nashville, Tennessee in 1864 and many locations in between. This infantry marched miles upon miles into the southern states.
Published in The Anthony Republican
Anthony, Kansas
Friday, April 12, 1907
Page 1
A few stories have been told about what George’s military duties were. It seems he was responsible for bringing food into the camps for his fellow soldiers. I pictured many times what that looked like in my mind, and decided he probably wasn’t the most popular guy among the farmers near the campgrounds.
I am currently working on a book using newspaper clippings to help me tell the story. A clipping from 1907 popped up about George being a “chicken lifter.” Of course, I was intrigued by this headline and studied the news article. It mentioned a gentleman named J. S. McDowell who was living in Smith Center, Kansas at the time. Mr. McDowell had been George’s captain during the war. They had become friends in their military years and must have stayed in contact over the several years that followed.
Ancestry.com helped me learn the man’s name was John Sands McDowell. He came from Franklin, Pennsylvania, and was listed on the same 77th Regiment, Company F as George. John Sands McDowell was born August 1, 1840, in Franklin, Pennsylvania. He married Cordelia Ann Niles, raised two children. He was living in Smith Center, Kansas at the time of his death on April 24, 1915.
Captain John Sands McDowell
Private George Washington Houser
The news article read: “To look at Uncle George Houser you’d never think he was ever a chicken lifter, but his old captain, J. S. McDowell, of Smith Center, Kansas, told us that Uncle George was in his company for three years and he never failed to find chicken meat and young pork when there was any to be had in two or three miles of the camp. He says Uncle George always stored his surplus in the captains’ tent, so they got to be mighty good friends during the war. He is coming down to Anthony sometime and fight over all their little battles and forage with Uncle George again.”
I wonder if Mr. McDowell was ever able to make that trip between Smith Center and Anthony to reminisce with Grandfather. If I find any evidence of that reunion, I will update this web page with the new information.
Published in The Anthony Republican
Anthony, Kansas
Friday, December 25, 1908
Page 4
Another article was published by The Anthony Republican about George Houser’s war duties:
The paper talked to George’s old captain J. S. McDowell. George enlisted as a company teamster. The company noticed that when teams had a hard pull, George’s team was the first one through. When George was ordered to do a thing, there was never an excuse or delay; it was done promptly, well and to the minute.
The mules were kept in good flesh. That soon made George a regimental wagon master. In that capacity, George had them all coming when a rush was needed. The commanding officer kept an eye on George, and the next promotion made him a brigade wagon master, in direct charge of and responsible for a thousand teams of mules and their wagons and equipment for the efficient service of a thousand or more teamsters.
In George’s wagons, he held the success of the army, as his failure to get food or ammunition to the front, or to lead the retreat with the supplies to prevent their capture by the enemy, meant disaster. George always made good.
Wagons with Team of Horses by Mathew Benjamin Brady 1822 to 1896
Page 616 from The History of Fulton County
Wikipedia Reference: 77th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment
Family Search Reference: 77th Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry
Historic Pittsburgh Reference : 77th Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry
PA-Roots Reference: 77th Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry
