Military Contribution
Many soldiers from New England and New Jersey came through Philadelphia heading south. Many soldiers moved through New Jersey via the Camden and Amboy Railroad and then the Delaware River by ferry. The ferry would drop them off at Washington Avenue where they would march to waiting trains of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. To help the soldiers two organizations, the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon and the Cooper Shop Refreshment Saloon were formed. The groups organized local residents who greeted arriving soldiers with refreshments and letter writing materials.
A volunteer formation called the Washington Grays (Philadelphia) was the first Philadelphia regiment sent out of the city. Sent to defend Washington, D.C., they made it to Baltimore, Maryland when, during the Baltimore riot of 1861, a secessionist mob attacked them. The brigade retreated back to Philadelphia, where George Leisenring, a German-born private, died, becoming Philadelphia's first war casualty. The first Philadelphians to encounter Confederate forces were the Twenty-third Infantry Regiment and the First City Troop at the Battle of Hoke's Run in West Virginia. More than fifty infantry and cavalry regiments were eventually recruited fully or in part in Philadelphia. The regiments included the Philadelphia Brigade and the 118th Pennsylvania Infantry which was recruited and sponsored by the Philadelphia Corn Exchange. In addition eleven United States Colored Troops were organized in Philadelphia. During the war between 89,000 and 90,000 Philadelphians were on enlistment rolls. However this number includes reenlistments and does not include African American soldiers from Philadelphia whose enlistment numbers are unknown.
Philadelphia's Schuylkill Arsenal was the U.S. Army main source for uniforms. Hundreds of workers in Philadelphia made parts of the uniforms in their private homes which were then assembled at the Arsenal. Also in the city, the Frankford Arsenal manufactured munitions and the Sharp and Rankin's factory made breech-loading rifles. The Philadelphia Navy Yard, employing 3,000 people, constructed eleven warships and outfitted many more. Philadelphia private shipyards, including William Cramp and Sons, also constructed many ships such as the USS New Ironsides.
A total of twenty-four military hospitals were operated at certain points during the war. Philadelphia had as many as 10,000 beds for soldiers, not including the beds in the twenty-two civilian hospitals which sometimes cared for soldiers. The Union Refreshment Saloon created the first military hospital in the city. Its hospital had fifteen beds for sick soldiers passing through the city. Smaller hospitals such as the Haddington Hospital and Citizens' Volunteer Hospital both with 400 beds were the among the earliest set up. These were eventually closed to allow more focus on Philadelphia's largest military hospitals. The hospitals, the largest military hospitals in the United States, were Satterlee Hospital with 3,124 beds and Mower Hospital with 4,000 beds. In total, around 157,000 soldiers and sailors were treated in Philadelphia hospitals.
Read more about this topic: Philadelphia In The American Civil War
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