Jacob Gellert Frick

He was appointed 2nd Lieutenant of Company K, 3rd Ohio Infantry on 25 June for Mexican War service and mustered out on 23 June 1847. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the 11th United States Infantry on 29 March 1848 but discharged on 14 August 1848.

In 1860 he was a 35 year old screen maker and merchant in Pottsville, PA. He enrolled and mustered on 23 September 1861 at Pottsville as the Lieutenant Colonel of the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry, with whom he served til 29 July 1862, when he resigned to lead a command of his own.

He was appointed Colonel of the new 129th Infantry as it was formed on 15 August 1862.

He led his regiment on the Maryland Campaign.

On the morning of the 14th, the brigade started on the march through Maryland, arrived at the Monocacy on the 16th, where it was halted, and on the 17th resumed the march to the sound of heavy cannonading, arriving early on the following morning on the field of Antietam. But the enemy had by this time retired, and the command soon after went into camp, where for six weeks, with the exception of an expedition up the Shenandoah Valley with the division, the regiment remained engaged in drill and unimportant picket duty.

He continued in command of his regiment to 25 January 1863, when he was dismissed by the sentence of a court martial:

[He and his Lt. Colonel W.H. Armstrong] had refused to support a requisition for winter frock coats that they saw as an unnecessary and extravagant expense for their men, most of whom had only several months remaining in their short enlistments. Humphreys dug in his heels, testified against both men, and saw them promptly cashiered from the army for “conduct subversive of good order and military discipline, tending to mutiny.” Neither went quietly, and their howls of protests reached the Capitol with some effect. Several months later, both were restored to their positions by Secretary of War Stanton.

As the Confederates crossed the border into Pennsylvania, Col. Jacob Frick, leading the 27th P.V.M., assembled his men in Wrightsville on the West shore of the Susquehanna River. They prepared to defend the bridge crossing into Columbia ... About 6:00 P.M. on Sunday, June 28th ... their hearts sank as they watched General John B. Gordon and his 2,500 men take their position on the turnpike leading to the Wrightsville Bridge ... The men of the 27th kept up a steady fire but eventually were ordered to fall back to the bridge. One hour and fifteen minutes later, Col. Frick gave the command to retreat ... the charges were fired, but the resulting explosion barely damaged the bridge ... Frick's men ran onto the bridge carrying tinder, incendiary substances, and flaming brands. Hurriedly, they set the bridge ablaze. This ended the battle and prevented Confederates from crossing into Columbia and continuing on to Lancaster.

By 1870 he was again a screen manufacturer in Pottsville. In 1880 he was the Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue there. By 1900, then age 75, he had retired and was living on "money at interest."

His service from Bates,1 source also of the quote about his regiment on the campaign, the Card File,2 and Heitman.3 The quote about his court martial from Matthew T. Pearcy's "No Heroism Can Avail:” Andrew A. Humphreys and His Pennsylvania Division at Antietam and Fredericksburg in Army History, Summer 2010. The quote about his bridge defense from Schuylkill Living Magazine, the journal of the Schuylkill County Historical Society. Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860-1900. His gravesite is on Findagrave. The photo above from one at the Library of Congress kindly provided by John Hoptak.

He married Catharine S. Schuyler (1827-1864) in March 1850 and they had 4 children, but only one survived to adulthood. He married again, Pricilla H. McGinniss (1840-1891) in November 1865 and they had 6 children togather.

01/23/1825; Northumberland County, PA

03/05/1902; Pottsville, PA; burial in Presbyterian Cemetery, Pottsville, PA