Joseph M Knap

(1837 - 1920)
Home State: New York
Command Billet: Battery Commander
Branch of Service: Artillery
Unit: Pennsylvania Light Artillery, Independent Battery E

Before the Antietam Campaign:
He enlisted at 24 years of age in Company L, 28th PA Volunteer Infantry on July 20, 1861. In August 1861, while 1st Lieutenant in his regiment, he recruited and organized the "Fort Pitt Artillery", later to become the Independent Battery E.

The remainder of the War:
He served with Battery E until May 16, 1863, when he resigned to ...

"accept a partnership in, and the general superintendency of the Fort Pitt Foundry, at Pittsburg, where immense numbers of heavy guns and mortars were being cast for the use of the Navy, and for coast fortifications, a position in which he served his country with great ability and fidelity, the ordnance cast under his supervision being remarkable for their excellence."
(from Bates)

After the War:
He was president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Alumni Assn 1896-98.

References, Sources, and other notes:
Source: Bates, Samuel P., History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-65, Harrisburg, 1868-1871.; Extracted online at the Pennsylvania in the Civil War site.

More on the Web:
See more about Capt Knap and the Battery at a reenactors site online, source of some of this information.

Birth Date: 12/30/1837    Place of Birth: Brownsville, NY
College: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), NY    Graduating Year: 1858
Death Date: 6/21/1920    Burial Place: Village Cemetery, Catskill, NY

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