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Federal (USV)

Captain

Robert A. Abbott

(1832 - 1902)

Home State: Pennsylvania

Branch of Service: Infantry

Unit: 132nd Pennsylvania Infantry

Before Antietam

A mining engineer, he enrolled 9 August 1862 at Mauch Chunk, PA and mustered as Captain, Company G, 132nd Pennsylvania Infantry on 15 August.

On the Campaign

He was severely wounded in action at Antietam on 17 September 1862:

Assistant Surgeon George W. Hoover had joined the regiment's medical staff directly from medical school, and had never even seen a gunshot wound until entering action that morning. His first patient was Captain Robert A. Abbott, who staggered back to the regimental aid station after a bullet virtually removed his lower jaw. Sheltered from the massed volleys of enemy musketry only by a haystack, Surgeon Hoover demonstrated remarkable courage and composure as he examined his first surgical patient and then saved him from drowning in his own blood by halting the hemorrhage via deft work with scalpel and sutures.

The rest of the War

He was discharged in Washington, DC on 13 January 1863 for wounds.

After the War

He was a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), Pennsylvania Commandery. He was President of the Jefferson Coal Company at his death in 1902.

References & notes

Basic information from Bates1. The quote above from the US Army Medical Department Regiment. Personal details from his death notice in the Colliery Engineer/Mines and Minerals (Vol. 22, 1902). His gravesite is on Findagrave.

Birth

06/25/1832

Death

02/13/1902; burial in Nisky Hill Cemetery, Bethlehem, PA

Notes

1   Bates, Samuel Penniman, History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-65, Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1868-1871  [AotW citation 11324]