Colonel Richard P. Roberts (USA)

Civil War Union Army Officer. Served in the Civil War as Colonel and commander of the 140th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He was killed while leading his men into the Wheatfield on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg. (bio by: Ethan F. Bishop)

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Colonel Richard P. Roberts was born near Frankfort Springs in 1820. He read law under N. P. Fetterman at Beaver, and was admitted to the bar in 1848. He was married in 1851 to Caroline Henry, daughter of Judge Thomas Henry of Beaver, who was a brother of William Henry, first Sheriff of Beaver County.

Roberts became an able attorney, and an eloquent speaker on any subject, especially distinguishing himself with brilliant patriotic addresses at the outbreak of the Civil War.

At the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2,1863,at the head of his regiment, the 140th Pennsylvania Voluntary Infantry, and in temporary command of his entire brigade in driving the Confederates from the woods and ridge beyond the famous Wheat Field, he fought bravely until being fatally wounded. In this action the 140th lost 263 men, killed and wounded, more than half its effective strength.

At a meeting of the bench and bar of Beaver County, held just 14 days following Roberts' death in battle, a Committee on Resolutions made an elaborate report, from which the following is an extract:

Resolved, That in all the relations of life, whether public or private, social or official, as a gentleman of sterling integrity and ability, Colonel Roberts has secured for himself the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens, and held a high position as a brave, eloquent, energetic, generous and kind-hearted man.