John Taylor, 1889 – Was born in Philadelphia, April 5, 1840, and at the age of 13 years entered the service of a commercial house as errand boy. In 1861 he was among the first to enlist in defense of the Union, and enrolled his name as a private with the “Scotch Rifles,” a new military company that had been organized in his neighborhood, the title of the company being adopted from the fact that its organizers and officers were Scotchmen. Although thoroughly organized in April, 1861, the company was not mustered into service until the following month, when it was sent into camp at Easton, Pa., where it became Company E, Second Regiment, Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps. One June 12, 1861, he was promoted to be Sergeant, and July 4 further promotion made him Orderly Sergeant. During the same month the Second, with the other regiments of the Pennsylvania Reserve Division, was hurried to the front, and from that time until April, 1865, John Taylor was identified with every movement and every action of the Pennsylvania Reserves. Through all of its marches, camps, bivouacs, skirmishes and battles, through all of its pleasures and vicissitudes, through its victories and defeats, through its weary tramps amid heat and dust, and rain and mud (Virginia style), John Taylor bore his part conspicuously among his comrades. He was with his company as Sergeant at the battle of Dranesville, December 20, 1861, the first victory of the Army of the Potomac; and was also at Mechanicsville, Gaines’ Mills, Savage Station, Frazier’s Farm, White Oak Swamp, Glendale, Charles City Cross Roads, Malvern Hill, Manassas, Chantilly, South Mountain, Antietam and Fredericksburg; was at Gettysburg, July 2 and 3, a Lieutenant gallantly leading his men across the “Valley of Death,” at the foot of Round Top, and had command of the advance skirmish line that harassed the army of Lee as it retreated. As aide on the staff of the commander of the First Brigade, Pennsylvania Reserves, he was through all the campaigns preceding the battle of Wilderness, and his gallant bearing in this position drew from Major-General George G. Meade, commanding the Army of the Potomac, a highly complimentary letter. At the Wilderness, General [Colonel] McCandless and John Taylor rode side by side, leading the brigade in a charge into and through a corps of the enemy. The charge was a forlorn hope-it relieved and extricated Wadsworth and his division, but left John Taylor a prisoner, and suffering the privations of ten months in captivity. Three times he escaped and just as often was recaptured, suffering the meanwhile from hunger, fatigue, nakedness and the diseases incident thereto. Lynchburg, Danville, Macon, Florence, Savannah, Charleston and Columbus are all names familiar to him, and each one has its history of esepcial horror. At Charleston, he was one of thsoe who, with General Seymour, was removed to a place of confinement taht was within the line of reach of the Union guns in Charleston Harbor. In March, 1865, he was exchanged, succumbed to typhoid fever, and on recovery he was appointed to a position in the Quartermaster’s Department, U.S.A., stationed at Fortress Monroe, where he remained until 1870, when he returned to Philadelphia and successfully engaged in the insurance business. He is a member of Captain Philip R. Schuyler Post, 51, G.A.R., Department Pennsylvania. Two months after joining the organization he was appointed its Adjutant, and the year following was elected its Commander, and re-elected on the expiration of his term; during which time he created a thorough reorganization of the Post, increasing its discipline and membership, and from one of the smallest and most obscure Posts in the Grand Army it has grown to be one of the largest and most influential. Captain Taylor served for three terms as Assistant Quartermaster-General of the Department of Pennsylvania, and was then elected Department Commander. In 1881 he was appointed Quartermaster-General, G.A.R., and the ten succeeding Commanders-in-Chief have each in turn re-appointed him to the only position of trust in the Grand Army of the Republic, and the only position in which the incumbent has succeeded himself. He is a member of the Loyal Legion, Past Colonel of the Union Veteran Legion, President of the War Veterans’ Club, and a Trustee of the National Memorial Association of the Union Prisoners of War, Master of Lodge No. 9, A.Y.M., member of the Corinthian Chapter, R.A.M., of Philadelphia Commandery, Knights Templar, of the Lu Lu Temple of Mystic Shrine and of the St. Andrew’s Society. Captain Taylor was elected Receiver of Taxes of Philadelphia, February, 1890, for three years, by a majority of nearly forty thousand and now occupies that office.History of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and of the Hibernian Society for the Relief of Emigrants from Ireland.
Captain John Taylor, Quartermaster-General, was born in Philadelphia, April 5, 1840. Enlisted in Company E, 2nd Pennsylvania Reserves, May 27, 1861, as Sergeant. Promoted First Sergeant, July 4, 1861, and First Lieutenant July 12, 1862. For gallant and meritorious conduct at the battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 1864, was brevetted Captain.
Immediately after the battle of Gettysburg, General McCandless, Commanding the First Brigade, Pennsylvania Reserves, had him detailed for duty upon his Staff, where he continued until captured inside the rebel lines, at the Wilderness, May 5, 1864, while endeavoring to force his way to the 7th Pennsylvania Reserves, then surrounded by the enemy.
He was confined in rebel prisons at Lynchburg, Danville, Savannah and Charleston, and kept in the latter place under fire until yellow fever broke out among the prisoners. In October, 1864, was taken to Columbia, South Carolina, where, on November 29, he escaped, and after three weeks of incredible suffering, wandering in the swamps of South Carolina, relying for subsistence upon such matter as could be procured in the undergrowth, and the occasional help extended from the scanty hoard of some colored man, was recaptured on December 21, 1864, at Pickensville, South Carolina, and taken back to Columbia, remaining there until the rebels were driven out by General Sherman in 1865, when he was removed to Charlotte, North Carolina, and again made his escape, but was recaptured the next day, and on March 1, 1865, was exchanged near Wilmington, North Carolina.
On the 12th of March, 1865, was mustered-out of the service of the United States at Washington, D. C. Comrade Taylor was mustered into the Grand Army in Capt. P. R. Schuyler Post No. 51, Philadelphia, August, 1876; made Post Adjutant, October, 1876; re-appointed January, 1877; elected Post Commander, 1878, and re-elected 1879; Delegate to Department Encampment, 1877; Assistant Quartermaster-General of the Department, 1878; re-appointed 1879 and 1880; elected Department-Commander, January, 1881.
He is actively engaged in the Fire Insurance business. Has served as a member of Common Councils, Philadelphia. Since his first appointment as Quartermaster-General by Commander-in-Chief Van Der Voort, he has been re-appointed (1888) each year.
Captain John Taylor, Quartermaster-General G. A. R. (Receiver of Taxes of Philadelphia), was born in Philadelphia April 5, 1840, and at the age of thirteen years entered the service of a commercial house as errand-boy. In 1861 he was among the first to enroll his name with the “Scotch Rifles,” a new military company that had been organized in his neighborhood. The company was not mustered into service until the following month, when it became Company E, Second Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps, John Taylor’s name being borne on the rolls as private.
June 12 he was promoted sergeant, and July 4 was made orderly sergeant. During the same month the Second, with the other regiments of the Pennsylvania Reserve Division, was hurried to the front, and from that time until April, 1865, John Taylor was identified with every movement and every action of the Pennsylvania Reserves.
He was with his company as sergeant at the battle of Dranesville, December 20, 1861, the first victory of the Army of the Potomac, and at Mechanicsville, Gaines’ Mills, Savage Station, Frazier’s Farm, White Oak Swamp, Glendale, Charles City Cross-Roads, Malvern Hill, Manassas, Chantilly, South Mountain, Antietam, and Fredericksburg, and in the famous mud-march in January, 1863. He was at Gettysburg July 2 and 3 as a lieutenant, leading his men across the “Valley of Death” at the foot of Round Top, and had command of the advance skirmish line that harassed the army of Lee as it retreated.
We find John Taylor an aid on the staff of the commander of the First Brigade Pennsylvania Reserves through all the campaigns preceding the battle of the Wilderness, and his gallant bearing drew from Major General George G. Meade, commanding the Army of the Potomac, one of the most complimentary letters ever written by a commanding officer.
At the Wilderness General McCandless and John Taylor rode side by side, leading the brigade in a charge into and through a corps of the enemy. The charge was a forlorn hope; it relieved and extricated Wadsworth and his division, but left John Taylor a prisoner, and the privations, vicissitudes, and sufferings of his ten months of captivity would fill a volume. Three times he escaped and just as often was recaptured, suffering the meanwhile hunger, fatigue, nakedness, and the diseases incident thereto. At Charleston he was one of those who, with General Truman Seymour, were removed to a place of confinement within the line and reach of the Union guns at Charleston harbor.
In March, 1865, Lieutenant Taylor heard the glad tidings of exchange, and at Wilmington, North Carolina, he was again under the shadow of the old flag. With the offer in his hands of a command in the Hancock Veteran Legion he succumbed to typhoid fever, and his convalescence was met with the glorious news of victory for the Union.
His recovery brought him a position in the quartermaster’s department U. S. A., stationed at Fort Monroe, where he remained until 1870, when he returned to Philadelphia and engaged in the insurance business, in which his qualifications have made him eminently successful. He is a member of Captain Philip R. Schuyler Post 51, Department of Pennsylvania, G. A. R.; was appointed its Adjutant, and the year following was elected its Commander and re-elected on the expiration of his term.
Captain John Taylor served for three terms as Assistant Quartermaster-General of the Department of Pennsylvania, and was then elected Department Commander. In 1881 he was appointed Quartermaster-General G. A. R. by Commander-in-Chief Vandervoort, and the eleven succeeding Commanders-in-Chief have each in turn reappointed him to this position of trust in the G. A. R.
He is a member of the Loyal Legion, Past Colonel of the Union Veteran Legion, president of the War Veterans’ Club, a trustee of the National Memorial Association of the Union Prisoners of War, Past Master of Lodge No. 9, A. Y. M.; member of the Corinthian Chapter, R. A. M.; of Philadelphia Commandery, Knights Templar; of Lu Lu Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and of the Consistory.
Of Scotch-Irish parentage, both countries claim him, and he is a member of both the St. Andrew’s and Hibernian Societies, as well as of the Scotch-Irish Society.
Captain Taylor was elected Receiver of Taxes of Philadelphia February, 1890, for three years by a majority of nearly forty thousand, and on assuming the responsibilities of the office immediately made himself familiar with all its details.
Currently a resident of Burke, Virginia - I'm originally from the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I have been a student of the Pennsylvania Reserves since 1997 and thoroughly enjoy telling their story. By trade I'm a former IT Professional but presently working as a Letter Carrier for the United States Postal Service.
