Unit

Federal Regiment

46th Pennsylvania Infantry

Organized: Harrisburg, PA; mustered in 1 September 1861
Disbanded/Mustered out: near Alexandria, VA 16 July 1865

Commanding Officers:
  Col. Joseph F. Knipe
  LCol. James L. Selfridge

Members of Interest:
    Capt. George A. Brooks, Co. D, KIA

Maps Showing this Unit:
   Detail Map #2: Hood's Division Retakes the Cornfield
   Detail Map #3: Mansfield's XII Corps Attacks Into the Cornfield

Battlefield Tablets for this Unit:
   Tablet #120: Army of the Potomac - 17 Sep, 5 AM to 17 Sep, 12 PM
   Tablet #27: Twelfth Army Corps - 17 Sep, 6 AM to 17 Sep, 12 PM
   Tablet #28: Williams' Division, Twelfth Army Corps - 17 Sep, 6 AM to 17 Sep, 5 PM
   Tablet #29: Crawford's Brigade, Williams' Division - 17 Sep, 9 AM to 17 Sep, 5 PM

This Regiment's Chain of Command:
  Army - Army of the Potomac
  Corps - Twelfth (XII) Army Corps
  Division - 1st Division, XII Corps
  Brigade - 1st Brigade, 1st Division, XII Corps

History of the Unit:
The core of the Regiment's officers and men were recruited in September 1861 from veterans of the First Defenders and others of the three-month units recruited in April and May 1861 in response to the President's first call for troops. Their initial service was along the upper Potomac and at Harpers Ferry. In early 1862 they were with Banks in the Shenandoah Valley. They saw serious action at Cedar Mountain on 9 August.

In the Antietam Campaign:
From Bates1:

In the battle of Antietam, Banks' Corps was commanded by General Mansfield, and early in the day of September 17th was led to the support of Hooker, battling with a heavy force of the enemy on the extreme right of the line, across Antietam Creek. Crawford's Brigade was sent to the support of Ricketts' Division and advanced carrying the woods to the right of, and beyond the cornfield, and maintained its position until relieved by Sedgwick's Division of Sumner's Corps. The Forty-sixth was here led by Lieutenant Colonel Selfridge, Colonel Knipe still suffering from the effects of his wounds. The loss was six killed and three severely wounded. Captain George A. Brooks was among the killed.

The remainder of the War:
The Regiment was at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, on the Atlanta Campaign, and with Sherman on the March to the Sea.

Notes

1 Complete text for the 46th Infantry is online from Alice Gayley.
Bates, Samuel Penniman, History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-65, Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1868-1871 [AotW citation 831]

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