Happy Memorial Day! I want to start off by thanking everyone in the Styer clan who has served our country in the past. One of my long-term projects will be to create a list of our family members who served in the Armed Forces. Today’s edition of the Wunnerfitz will be dedicated to honoring our Styer veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice to the defense of their country during the Civil War.
Our direct ancestor, Cyrus Fairchild Styer, served in the Civil War as a member of a short-term emergency militia regiment which was part of a contingent that was raised during General Lee’s 1862 invasion of the North that resulted in the battle of Antietam. He did not see any heavy fighting, thankfully, and after the battle and Lee’s withdrawal from Maryland, his unit was disbanded, and he went home to help on the farm. However, not all our Styer ancestors saw such light service.
Corporal John H. Styer: Was Cyrus Styer’s first cousin (the son of George W. Styer and his first wife Catherine) and enlisted in the 84th Pennsylvania Infantry. He was soon promoted to Corporal but was fatally wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg (12/11-12/15 1862). According to his tombstone, he died at the Armory Square Military Hospital in Washingon D.C. less than a month later on January 9th, 1863. His grave is located in the old Pine Grove Cemetery in Berwick. The local Berwick chapter of the Sons of Union Veterans organization was named in his honor. Interestingly, he was mentioned in a semi-autobiographical book written by one of his comrades, Jesse Bowman Young. The following quote comes from his book What a Boy Saw in the Army (1894):
“Among the fatally wounded in the battle of Fredericksburg was one of Jack’s beloved schoolmates and lifelong companions, Corporal John H. Styer, of Berwick, Pennsylvania, an overgrown, rollicking, well-reared stripling, who enlisting in Clarence G. Jackson’s squad a few weeks before, had with eager loyalty joined the regiment at the front. In his first fight he manifested steadfast courage; severely hurt, he lingered for some time, and then heroically passed away, one of the youthful martyrs of liberty.”
Corporal Styer’s tombstone is inscribed with a hard-to-read inscription taken from a poem that thankfully was written down and preserved by Cyrus Styer’s sister, Ellen Crim:
“ He is among the number whose name the country shall give in charge to the sweet lyre. The historic muse, proud of her treasure, marches with it down to the latest times…”
- From William Cowper’s “The Task”
Private George Styer: was Cyrus Styer’s second cousin. His father Joseph Tyson Styer (Cornelius Tyson Styer’s brother) left Pennsylvania in 1824 to settle in Delaware County Ohio, where many of his branch of the family are buried. Joseph’s son George enlisted in the 96th Ohio Infantry. He was mortally wounded during the siege of Vicksburg. He was transported to the Jefferson Barracks Military Hospital in St. Louis, MO, where he died on 2/7/1863. His body was shipped back to Ohio, where he is buried. Vicksburg would not fall to Union forces until July 4th, 1863.
Lieutenant Colonel Milton Opp: was the child of Phillip Jr. and Hannah Smitih Opp. I have reason to believe that Milton’s grandfather, Phillip Sr. was married to our ancestor Hannah Wilson, who is one of our aunts on the Crossley side of the family (I’ll do a blog on the Wilsons in the future). Anyway, the long and short of it is that he was a distant cousin of ours. Milton enlisted in the 84th PA Infantry as a first lieutenant after having graduated from law school and passing the bar exam. By 1864 Milton Opp had moved up the ranks and had taken command of the 84th as a Lieutenant Colonel. Leading a charge during the battle of the Wilderness, he was mortally wounded, and died days later on the 9th of May, 1864. Opp was in the same unit as our ancestor Cpl. J.H. Styer above. He grew up in Muncy and The Muncy Historical Society is currently in possession of the field desk he used during the War. He is buried in the Muncy Cemetery.
Corporal John R. Styer: was a distant cousin of ours, descended from the Styers who stayed in the Montgomery County area. He enlisted in the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry and was killed at the battle of Haws Shop 5/28/1864. The Battle of Haws Shop was part of the larger Overland Campaign that included the Battle of the Wilderness during which Colonel Opp met his death. He is buried at the Cold Harbor National Cemetery in Virginia.
I’m sure I have not covered all of the Styer ancestors who sacrificed life and limb during the Civil War, but this small list should begin to give us a taste of the devastation it caused. Like World War Two, the Civil War effected the whole country and defined a generation. I hope we all be grateful for what these and other veterans did and gave to preserve our nation and our freedom. Have a blessed Memorial Day.
“Patriots have toiled, and in their country’s cause
Bled nobly, and their deeds, as they deserve,
Receive proud recompense. We give in charge
Their names to the sweet lyre. The historic muse,
Proud of the treasure, marches with it down
To latest times; and sculpture, in her turn,
Gives bond in stone and ever-during brass,
To guard them, and to immortalize her trust.”
-William Cowper, The Task, Book V
Styer Stories 