Unit

Federal Regiment

4th Pennsylvania Cavalry

Organized: Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburg; mustered in 9/1861
Disbanded/Mustered out on 7/1/1865

Commanding Officers:
  Col. James H. Childs
  LCol. James K. Kerr

Members of Interest:
  Maj George H Covode;
  Capt S B M Young, commanding detached squadron

Map Showing this Unit:
   Detail Map #8a: Sykes' Regulars Begin Advance on Sharpsburg

Battlefield Tablets for this Unit:
   Tablet #122: Army of the Potomac - 17 Sep, 10 AM to 17 Sep, 6 PM
   Tablet #91: Third Brigade, Cavalry Division - 17 Sep, 6 AM to 17 Sep, 3 PM
   Tablet #21: Cavalry Division - 17 Sep, 6 AM to 17 Sep, 8 PM
   Tablet #121: Army of the Potomac - 17 Sep, 8 AM to 17 Sep, 6 PM

This Regiment's Chain of Command:
  Army - Army of the Potomac
  Division - Pleasonton's Cavalry Division
  Brigade - 3rd Brigade, Cavalry Division

In the Antietam Campaign:
"In the movement into Maryland, the army being again under General McClellan, the Fourth had the advance until it reached Frederick City, when it was assigned to General Averill's Brigade. The illness of the latter preventing him from taking the field, the command of the brigade devolved upon Colonel Childs, that of the regiment upon Lieutenant Colonel Kerr."

"The brigade crossed the Antietam with the troops upon the left, and was posted in front of the Stone Bridge, where the Fourth supported Clark's Battery and held the line upon its right. A single solid shot, which fell in the midst of the squadron supporting these guns, killed two men and four horses. Colonel Childs was among the killed in this battle."
(from Bates)

Capt Young led a squadron of the Regiment in advance of the Regular Infantry (as skirmishers) in the afternoon of 17 September in their advance toward the town of Sharpsburg along the Boonsboro Pike.

References, Sources, and other Notes:
Source: Bates, Samuel P., History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-65, Harrisburg: 1868-1871, extracted online at Pennsylvania in the Civil War. See more about the Regigment and its field officers on behind AotW.

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