Pvt. Clyde James McDivitt, USA

On August 13, 1862, Clyde James (CJ) McDivitt enlisted in the Union Army as a private, joining Company C of the 125th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. One month later, on September 17, he and the rest of his largely untrained regiment fought at the Battle of Antietam. While other battles would have a higher casualty rate because of their length, the Battle of Antietam remains infamous as the bloodiest single day combat in American history: almost 23,000 men were killed, wounded, or missing by the end of the day.

The Civil War had been raging for over a year when Robert E. Lee brought the Virginia Army into Maryland and onto northern territory for the first time. George B. McClellan, leading the Union forces, outnumbered Lee’s army by almost 2-1. Despite his numerical superiority and knowledge of Lee’s plans, McClellan missed a “golden opportunity” to eliminate Lee’s army.

The 125th Regiment was part of the XII Corps, under Major General Joseph K. F. Mansfield. Almost as soon as the battle began, while scouting just in front of the 125th Regiment, General Mansfield was mortally wounded – he would be one of six general officers killed in the daylong battle. Brigadier General Alpheus S. Williams assumed command of the XII Corps; below, in a letter to his family, the general described the challenges of deploying untrained regiments amid the hellish conditions of the Battle of Antietam...

Clyde James McDivitt grew up in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania and served in the 125th Pa. Infantry during the Civil War, seeing action at Antietam. He married Rachel Sprankle in 1865 and they had one son, Frank Paul McDivitt. Clyde worked as the owner and publisher of newspapers in Abilene, Kansas and in Santa Paula, Randsburg and Taft, California. In 1886, he was elected to serve as Kansas Department Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. He served twice as president of the Southern California Editorial Association.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Nov 10 2023, 1:32:32 UTC