The Hangman's Ropemaker: Jacob Bupp's Civil War service

“John Bupp, G, 6th Pennsylvania heavy artillery, who died in the hospital at the Dayton home last week, was a well known character in Pennsylvania for many years, both before and after the civil war”

~ Line from the untitled death notice of Jacob Bupp, as in was printed in The Leavenworth Weekly Times (Leavenworth, Kansas), 9 March 1899, page 5.  Note that his first name is wrong.

*This blog post is one in a series of blogs on my famous ancestor, Jacob Bupp, the Hangman's Ropemaker- click the page tab above labeled "The Hangman's Ropemaker" for more information and the blog series*

Jacob Bupp, like most men of his era, served during the Civil War, that brutal and bloody conflict between the states.

Unlike a great deal of men in Allegheny County, he did not enlist, but was instead drafted into the Union army.  He also wasn't drafted until the last year of the war, which means that he was in the Allegheny area when a couple of events happened.

The first event was the direction of Secretary of War John Buchanan Floyd to the War Department to move to move over 150 cannons from the local U.S. Arsenal to forts in the Mississippi and Texas on 20 December 1860. This created a stir amongst locals, who knew a war was brewing.

The second event happened in February of 1861, when the president-elect Abraham Lincoln visited both Allegheny City and Pittsburgh. Crowds lined the streets to get a look at the tall new President, and while Jacob may or may not have been among them he certainly heard first hand accounts of seeing Lincoln.

Source: "Draft in the Twenty-Third District," The Pittsburgh Daily Commercial (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 6 June 1864, page 2

Because there was a lack of men to meet the latest quota for Allegheny County, a draft was issued in the twenty third district.  Jacob Bupp’s name was one of those drawn in the draft from Reserve Township and on 15 June 1864, he was expected to report to the Provost Marshal’s office on Federal Street in Allegheny City, just a few months after his daughter Mary Ann was born.  

He was mustered into service at Pittsburgh on 24 August 1864 as a private in Company G of the 212th Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment (click this link to see photos of the regimental flag and standar in a new window) and was among the oldest of the enlisted soldiers at age forty.  The officer who mustered him in was Frank H. White, who later became captain of Company G.  

The men in the regiment, which was also later organized as the Sixth Heavy Artillery, were originally recruited for the Fifth Heavy Artillery, but since too many men were recruited, the Sixth was formed. Unlike Jacob Bupp, most of the men who formed the 212th Pennsylvania Volunteers were veterans, having re-enlisted after their original terms were up.  The unit was organized at Camp Reynolds (which was also called Camp Copeland) on Braddock’s Field in Allegheny County on 15 September 1864. Two days later it moved to Washington D.C., most likely by railroad, and was attached to the Second Brigade, DeRussey's Division, Twenty Second Corps. For the first weeks of its organization, the regiment was assigned to guard the capital.

On 29 September 1864, the Sixth Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery was detached from the Second Brigade and ordered to guard the Orange and Alexandria Railroad between Manassas and Alexandria behind Confederate lines.  They were stationed along the line a company at a time. The railroad they guarded was in guerrilla-infested territory.  Supplies for the Union army were being transported by way of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, and guarding the railroad was of the utmost priority.  According to Civil War Historian Samuel Penniman Bates, "It was an enemy's county, and infested by roving bands, military or civil upon occasion, and to guard against surprise, and to be at all points superior to an attacking force, required incessant watchfulness and skill in the disposition and handling of the guards".  A few men in the regiment were killed by guerrillas when they strayed from the rail line.  

After General Philip H. Sheridan had pushed back Confederate troops under the command of Jubal Early in the Shenandoah Valley in October 1864, the Orange and Alexandria Railroad no longer needed to be kept under guard, as supplies were no longer needed to be shipped via the line.

In early November, the 212th was ordered back to defend the capitol. At Washington, the regiment took up garrison in forts south of the Potomac. It was when they were garrisoned in 1864 that the unit was trained in the use of cannon and became a heavy artillery regiment, as it had been infantry up to this point (this kind of conversion was normal for this point in the war).  They were transferred then to the artillery branch of the Union Army. For the remainder of the war, the Sixth Heavy Artillery remained on duty guarding Washington D.C. at the various forts that protected the city.

Jacob Bupp had been promoted at some point to second sergeant, but on 1 May 1865, he returned to the rank of private by on his own request, though the reason for this is not known. Perhaps he disliked filling out the paperwork required of sergeants, which included writing letters home for deceased comrades, or perhaps he just wanted to be “one of the guys” again.  Whatever the reason, he gained his request.

On 13 June 1865, Jacob Bupp was mustered out of service as a private with the rest of his regiment at Fort Ethan Allen near Washington D.C.  The men were returned to Camp Reynolds in Allegheny County on the 17 of June, where Bupp was honorably discharged and sent home having taken part in no major battles and likely seeing little bloodshed, as only two men from the regiment were killed and forty four died from disease.

Interestingly enough, the 1865/66 city directory lists him living in Reserve Township, but lists his occupation as a soldier, although it appears that shortly after he returned from the war, Jacob went back into rope making.  

As a result of his service, he became very active with Post 128 (Lt. James Lysle Post) of the Grand Army of the Republic in Allegheny City. The post was named after a fallen lieutenant from Allegheny City and met at 114 Federal Street in Allegheny City on Thursday evenings during the time that Jacob had been active.

Source: Clipping from the Soldier's Application and Declaration for Invalid Pension for Jacob Bupp, Private, Company G, 6th Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery filed 20 October 1890; Photocopy provided by NARA in the pension file for Jacob Bupp

Jacob was not injured in the war, but because his mind was starting to slip in his old age, two pension claims were filed on his behalf in 1890/1891 and 1893.  The original claim had alleged an injury of chronic rheumatism and broken right leg as a result of his service but that claim was denied on the basis that there was no such injury to his legs, as stated in the surgeon's examination of Jacob done on 2 July 1891.  No deformity was found that would suggest he ever broke his leg. A second claim was filed in 1893 on the basis of his senile debility and that claim was approved, as "no other disability shown in a rate-able degree."

Six months after he returned from the war, he made ropes for two sets of hangings. Stay tuned for those hangings in the next blog post.

Sources Used or Referenced

Ancestry.com, "1890 Veterans Schedules," database online, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 August 2016), Entry for Jacob Bupp. Year: 1890, Census Place: Allegheny Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Roll: 88, Page: 2, and Enumeration District: 226.

Bates, Samuel P. History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865: prepared in compliance with acts of the legislature, 5 Volumes (Harrisburg: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869), Volume 5, Page 787. "Bupp, Jacob, Private, Mustered in 24 Aug '64, Mustered out with battery, June 13, 1865".

Directory of Pittsburgh and Allegheny cities, 1865-1866 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: G.H. Thurston, 1865), 65, "Bupp Jacob, soldier, Spring Garden road, Res tp"; digital image, University of Pittsburgh, Digital Research Library, Historic Pittsburgh (www.historicpittsburgh.org : accessed 16 August 2016).

"Draft in the Twenty-Third District," The Pittsburgh Daily Commercial (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 6 June 1864, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 21 September 2017).

Evans, Samuel M. Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in the war for suppression of the rebellion, 1861-1865: roll of honor, defenders of the flag, attack on Fort Sumter, S.C., April 12, 1861, surrender at Appomattox, Va., April 9, 1865 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: s.n, 1924), 54

Historical Data Systems, comp., "U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865," database online, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 August 2016), Entry for Jacob T. Bupp / Bubb, Private, Co. G, 6th Regiment, Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery (212th Volunteers), Film Number: M554 roll 15; citing data compiled by Historical Data Systems of Kingston, MA.

Invalid Pension File for Jacob Bupp, Pvt, Co G, 6th Pennsylvania, Claim number 931690; Certificate Number 752533;; Citing Pension application files based upon service in the Civil War and Spanish-American War ("Civil War and Later"); Records Relating to Pension and Bounty-Land Claims 1773-1942, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, RG 15; 2,807 rolls, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

McCartan, Ruth. "Who Was Max Klein?" The Allegheny City Society Reporter Dispatch, no. 69 (Summer 2016): 1. online. Allegheny City Society (http://alleghenycity.org/reporter-dispatch-archive/ : accessed 26 March 2019) Information about G.A.R. Post 128.

Moore, John L. "Virginia trip explores ancestor's Civil War army service." The Daily Item (Sunbury, Pennsylvania). 21 September 2014, page G2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 March 2019)

National Archives and Records Administration, "U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 August 2016), Entry for Jacob Bupp; Filed 1890 Oct 20; Application number 931690; Certificate number 752533; State filed: Pennsylvania; Widow: Caroline Bupp; Filed 1899 Mch 1; Application number 693169; Certificate number 476930; State: Pennsylvania; Roll Number: T288_61; citing "General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934". Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. T288, 546 rolls.

"Pennsylvania, Civil War Muster Rolls, 1860-1869," database online with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 August 2016), Entry for Jacob Bupp, 6th Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, Company G; citing Pennsylvania (State). Civil War Muster Rolls and Related Records, 1861–1866. Records of the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs, Record Group 19, Series 19.11 (153 cartons). Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

"Registers of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865," online images, Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/di/r19-65RegisterPaVolunteers/r19-65MainInterface.htm : accessed 11 January 2017), Volume 16, pages 49-50 (image page 107), entry for Jacob Bupp; citing Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs, Record Group 19; Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, PA.

Rooney, Dan and Peterson, Carol. Allegheny City: A History of Pittsburgh's North Side. (Pittsburgh : University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013). 41-58.

"Sixth Artillery Will Observe Its Annual Reunion," Butler Citizen (Butler, Pennsylvania), 8 October 1912. page 1; online images, Newspapers.com, (www.newspapers.com : accessed 29 March 2019).

Swanberg, W. A. "Was The Secretary Of War A Traitor?." American Heritage. February 1963. Online reprint, American Heritage: Trusted Writing on History, Travel, Food and Culture Since 1949, (www. https://www.americanheritage.com/was-secretary-war-traitor : accessed 17 May 2019).

"Union Regimental Histories - Pennsylvania - 6th Regiment Heavy Artillery (212th Volunteers)." Civil War Archive. 2016. (http://www.civilwararchive.com/Unreghst/unpaart1.htm#6th. : accessed 25 March 2019).

"Untitled," The Leavenworth Weekly Times (Leavenworth, Kansas), 9 March 1899, page 5; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 17 September 2017).