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Reuben M. Long, Co. A, 9th Pennsylvania Reserves

Chris Rasmussen

Reuben Miller Long was born in Pittsburgh on September 5, 1833. He was the fourth of seven children born to Joseph and Sarah Long.1 He was a mechanic partnered with his elder brother Joseph in Long & Brother, a blacksmithing business specializing in steamboat and railroad related work.2 He enlisted as a private in the Pittsburgh Rifles (later Co A 9th PRVC) and was mustered into the company on May 1, 1861. He was described as being 5’ 83/4” tall, with blue eyes, sandy hair, fair complexion, and a scar on his forehead.3 The Rifles entered Camp Wilkins on May 6, 1861.  Reuben rose through the ranks, first promoted to corporal, then sergeant. On August 1, 1862 he was promoted to First Lieutenant of Co A.4

Following the Battle of Mechanicsville, the 9th occupied rifle pits covering the withdrawal of the division from the battlefield. In a letter to his brother, written from Harrison’s Landing, Long described his experience, “The man next to me in the pit, belonging to Company F, was shot dead, and lying by my side the entire time – a ghastly sight.”5 At the Battle of South Mountain, Reuben assumed command of the Company A following the wounding of Captain Owston.6

Second Lieutenant Isaac M. Sowers,
Co. A, 9th Pennsylvania Reserves,
via U.S. Army Center of Military History.

The night before the Battle of Fredericksburg, Long had a premonition that he would not survive the upcoming battle. He gave his watch and other personal items to a hospital steward along with the instruction that they be sent to Long’s mother after the battle. Sadly, Reuben’s premonition would come true. He was mortally wounded, lingering for a few hours before dying.7

Upon learning of Reuben’s death, his brother Henry traveled to Virginia in an attempt to recover Reuben’s body. Together with Lt. Isaac Sowers of the 9th, he approached Confederate lines under a flag of truce, only be turned away.8 After the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, Henry Long resumed his efforts to recover his brother’s body. In May of 1865, Henry wrote to the Pennsylvania Chief of Transportation, Henry H. Gregg asking for assistance. He wrote, “I would not now tax the treasury of our noble old commonwealth, if it were not for the hope that the influence thereby obtained would give me great assistance in overcoming any obstacles that may be thrown in my way at Washington or elsewhere.”9 This time, Henry’s efforts proved successful. Reuben’s body was recovered and returned home. His body arrived in Pittsburgh on June 15th, 1865, and was interred in Allegheny Cemetery.10

Captain Robert Taggart,
Co. A, 9th Pennsylvania Reserves,
via U.S. Army Center of Military History.

At the dedication of the 9th’s monument at Gettysburg, Robert Taggert recalled his friend Reuben Long’s sacrifice for his country, “I had known Reuben Long from the time, when, as lads in our teens we had attended the same school, and as a boy and man he was ever noble, true hearted and brave. It matters not what you are I may think of premonitions such as so impressed his mind that night before the battle. This we know. And as he sat beside the camp-fire, and calmly, bravely, as his friend expressed it, talk to him his approaching death, he felt within his soul that to-morrow’s sun would light his pathway to the tomb.  Yet, when the mist was lifted from the Field of Fredericksburg, and the battle line was formed on that December morning, he was present at his post of duty, nor faltered though he heard his death knell in the command to charge across that fated field.11

Chief Regimental Historian of the 9th Reserves at PRVCHS |  + posts

Long time Civil War Enthusiast since early childhood. As a former resident of nearby Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I became interested in the 9th Pennsylvania Reserves and since then, have become engaged in researching the regiment and the men who served in it. I currently reside in Northern Virginia and work in Washington D.C.

  1. 1850 Census. “Civil War Veterans’ Card File”, 1861-1866. Series Number 19.12. Pennsylvania State Archives. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
  2. “Dissolution”, The Daily Pittsburgh Gazette and Commercial Journal, January 14, 1863, p.2.
  3. Alphabetical Roll of Co A, Civil War Muster Rolls and Related Records 37th To 38th Regiments, Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, 1861.
  4. A.L. Russell to J.P Martin, March 18, 1871, Civil War Muster Rolls and Related Records 37th To 38th Regiments, Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, 1861.
  5. “Letter from the Potomac Army”, Pittsburgh Gazette, July 12, 1862, p.3.
  6. “Company A, Ninth Reserves” Pittsburgh Dispatch, September 23, 1862, p.3.
  7. “Address of Robert Taggart”, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, Vol. I, E.K. Meyers State Printers, Harrisburg, 1893 p.231.
  8. Robert Taggart, Unpublished Diary, entry for December 25, 1862, Robert Taggart Papers, Pennsylvania State Archives. Henry Long to H.H. Gregg, May 13, 1865, Civil War Muster Rolls and Related Records, 33rd Regiment, Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, 1861.
  9. Henry Long to H.H. Gregg, May 16, 1865, Civil War Muster Rolls and Related Records, 33rd Regiment, Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, 1861.
  10. “To be brought home” Pittsburgh Gazette, June 14, 1865, p.3. “Pennsylvania Veterans Burial Cards, 1777–2012”, Digital Images, 3–5, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Bureau of Archives and History, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
  11. “Address of Robert Taggart”, Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, Vol. I, E.K. Meyers State Printers, Harrisburg, 1893, p.231.