88th INFANTRY REGIMENT

PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEER 88TH INFANTRY REGIMENT

K COMPANY

The 88^th Infantry Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers was organized 1861 under the

command of Colonel George P. McLean at Philadelphia.

Company K, was commanded by Captain William F. Powell. Sylvester Bookhammer was

one of the two lieutenants assigned to company K, commissioned October 5, 1861 for three

years of service.

1^st of October, 1861 it left Pennsylvania for Washington, D. C. and assigned to provost duty,

military police, in Alexandria , Virginia. During the time of the defense of Washington,

five companies of the 88^th were assigned to garrison forts on the Maryland side of the

Potomac with the rest, including company K, were in garrisons on the Virginia side.

April 17, 1862, the 88^th Infantry Regiment was sent into northern Virginia to Clouds Mills

for several weeks to guard the Orange and Alexander railroad between Bull Run and

Fairfax Courthouse. In June the regiment was assigned to the new Army of Virginia with

General John Pope commander. During this period Bookhammer was promoted to Captain

and made Company K commander

Summer of 1862 the Army of Virginia again faced the Confederate General 'Stonewall'

Jackson who had defeated them in the Shenandoah Valley. August 9^th as the Jackson army

of 22,000 men made its way toward Culpepper Courthouse it met with a smaller Union

force of 12,000 men of General Nathaniel Banks at Slaughters Cedar mountain and a

touch and go battle was fought with defeat of Jackson at hand he turned the tide and with\

his sword drawn led his men directly into the fight and was successful. The 88^th lost only one

man, none wounded while holding Mitchell Station during this action.

Later a larger battle took place closer to Washington, the Second Battle of Bull Run, and

like the first battle of Bull Run Confederates with a smaller force defeated the larger Union

force. The 88^th lost twenty two men with fifteen wounded.

After this victory General Lee took his Army of Northern Virginia into Maryland looking for

supplies and more volunteers, sending Jackson to take Harpers Ferry and took his main troops to Sharpsburg where McClellen caught up with him at Antietam Creek .