- Ario Pardee, Jr.
Ario Pardee, Jr. (October 28, 1839 – March 16, 1901) was an officer in the
Union Army during theAmerican Civil War . He rose to fame during theBattle of Gettysburg , where he led the defense of a portion ofCulp's Hill on July 3, 1863. A monument on theGettysburg Battlefield commemorates the spot as "Pardee Field."Early life
Ario Pardee, Jr. was the son of Ario Pardee (named for
Ariovistus ), a capitalist who foundedHazleton, Pennsylvania , ["Ario Pardee's Death," "New York Times", Mar 28, 1892. p. 1.] and Anna Maria Robison. He was born in Hazleton on October 28, 1839. Pardee trained as acivil engineer atRensselaer Polytechnic Institute . After graduating in 1858, he became involved in running his father’santhracite coal mines. By the outbreak of the war, he was married to Mary Allison.Civil War in the East
Pardee joined the
28th Pennsylvania Infantry on June 28, 1861. It was encamped at Camp Coleman inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania in July while completing organization. [Johnston, pp. 146-147.] After serving as captain of Company A, organized by his father, ["Obituary Notes," "New York Times", Mar 17, 1901. p. 7.] he was named major on November 1 of that year. (ColJohn W. Geary had been made a brigadier general, and Pardee was among those promoted in the follow-up to that promotion.) [Blair, p. 43 n. 9.] Pardee served under Geary in theShenandoah Valley , when MGNathaniel Banks was bested byStonewall Jackson . Pardee criticized Geary's actions in that campaign, especially his abandoningThoroughfare Gap in the face of a Confederate advance. [Blair, p. 45.] Pardee thought Geary overestimated dangers confronting him. [Blair, p. 53 n. 24; Johnston, p. 192.] While serving under MGJohn Pope in Virginia, Pardee missed theBattle of Cedar Mountain ; and Banks' command was not engaged at theSecond Battle of Bull Run , being detailed to guard the rear of Pope's army. It only did some skirmishing after the battle had ended. [Johnston, p. 212.]At the rank of major, Pardee led the
regiment at theBattle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, serving in the brigade of Lt. Col.Hector Tyndale in Second Division of the XII Corps. Ario escaped uninjured, despite having a horse shot out from under him. [Johnston, pp. 172, 218.] BGGeorge S. Greene , the division commmander, commended Pardee for his conduct at Antietam. [http://aotw.org/exhibit.php?exhibit_id=134] Pardee even took command of the brigade briefly, because Tyndale had been wounded. Shortly thereafter, on October 9 of that year, some companies of the 28th became part of the new147th Pennsylvania Infantry , together with three newly recruited companies. Pardee was named lieutenant colonel and commander of the regiment.Pardee next saw combat in the
Battle of Chancellorsville , where he led the regiment in thebrigade of Col.Charles Candy in the Second Division of BG John White Geary, his former regimental commander. He retained command at the Battle of Gettysburg, during which he was engaged in the fighting onCulp's Hill onJuly 2 andJuly 3 , 1863. A field on Culp’s Hill has been named for him, as a sign painted on a stone shows. [ [http://www.brotherswar.com/Gettysburg-Day-3Pic-10.htm Photograph of the Pardee memorial] ] The 147th Pennsylvania faced that field during the fighting on July 3, as XII Corps tried to win back ground lost to the Confederate troops of Lt. Gen.Richard S. Ewell on the day before. (Geary had wandered off with two brigades, instead of going to reinforce the army's endangered left flank.) Their foes resumed the previous day's efforts to carry Culp’s Hill by attacking up hill. [Sears, p. 364.] Pardee was told to maintain a steady volume of fire on the Confederates. This aided repulse of the last attack of BGGeorge H. Steuart 's brigade across the field. The volume of fire, however, was such that ammunition became scarce. By 11:00 AM the Confederate attacks ended. The report of ColCharles Candy that Pardee's regiment advanced to the wall on the opposite side of the contested field is not supported by other accounts. [Gottfried, pp. 381-382; Pfanz, p. 456 n. 36.]Civil War in the West
Pardee went west with the rest of XII Corps and XI Corps, which had been sent to the relief of the
Army of the Cumberland , besieged inChattanooga, Tennessee by the ConfederateArmy of Tennessee . The regiment participated in theBattle of Wauhatchie , theBattle of Lookout Mountain and theBattle of Ringgold Gap while under the overall command of Maj. Gen.Joseph Hooker . Pardee, ordinarily a critic of Geary, praised his division commander's conduct at Wauhatchie. [Blair, p. 130; Johnston, p. 269.]Pardee was promoted to the rank of colonel on March 19, 1864. [Johnston, pp. 288-289.] He then led the regiment in Col Candy's brigade in Brig. Gen.
John W. Geary ’s second division XX Corps in the Army of the Cumberland. This corps had been created out of XI Corps, XII Corps and some garrison troops. Hooker commanded the corps at the beginning of Maj. Gen.William T. Sherman ’sAtlanta Campaign . At theBattle of Peachtree Creek , Pardee's regiment held its ground against attacking Confederate forces while the regiments either side of it retreated. The 147th suffered heavy losses, and Pardee complained that his right flank was thrown into disorder by routed troops. [McDonough and Jones, pp. 215-216.]After Colonel Candy was mustered out of the service, Pardee usually led the first brigade of Geary’s Division in the later stages of the Atlanta Campaign, the
March to the Sea and theCarolinas Campaign . During that latter campaign, XX Corps became part of Maj. Gen.Henry Warner Slocum ’sArmy of Georgia . Pardee's last major battle as a brigade commander was theBattle of Bentonville inNorth Carolina .Pardee received promotion to the brevet rank of brigadier general on January 12, 1865, for the Battle of Peachtree Creek. He was discharged from the service on June 13 of that year.
Postbellum activities
After the Civil War, Pardee returned to Pennsylvania. There he went back into the coal business as a partner with his father and his brother Calvin. Ario Jr. was not heavily involved in the management of these enterprises. That fell to his father and then to brothers Calvin and Frank. ["Obituary Notes," "New York Times", Mar 17, 1901. p. 7.] Col Pardee's health seems to have been undermined by war service, which would explain his passive role. [Johnston, p. 328.] He also had interests in railroads and belonged to the
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States . [http://aotw.org/officers.php?officer_id=296] Mary Pardee predeceased her husband, and he grew testy in old age. [Johnston, p. 328.] Ario Pardee Jr. died atWyncote, Pennsylvania , on March 16, 1901. He was buried in the churchyard of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church inElkins Park, Pennsylvania . [findagrave|11354477 Retrieved on 2008-09-28]References
* Bates, Samuel P., "History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5", 5 vols., Harrisburg, B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869-1871.
* Blair, William Alan (ed.), "A Politician Goes to war: The Civil War Letters of John White Geary", University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-271-01338-9
* Dyer, Frederick H., "Compendium of the War of the Rebellion", 3 vols., New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1959.
* Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., "Civil War High Commands", Stanford University Press, 2001.
* Gottfried, Bradley M., "Brigades of Gettysburg: the Union and Confederate Brigades at the Battle of Gettysburg", Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2002.
* Johnston, Gertrude K. (ed.), "Dear Pa, and So It Goes", Harrisburg, PA: Business Service Co., 1971 [includes letters of Pardee to his father] .
* McDonough, James Lee, and James Pickett Jones, "War So Terrible: Sherman and Atlanta", New York: W. W. Norton, 1987. ISBN 0-393-02497-0
* Pfanz, Harry W., "Gettysburg: Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill", University of North Carolina Press, 1993, ISBN 0-8078-2118-7.1, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.Notes
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