Levi was born in 1829 in Centre Township of Union County, Pennsylvania. He was the oldest child of Henry Heimbach Jr and Elisabeth Hook. His grandparents were Henry and Catherine Haines Heimbach, and his great grandfather was Peter Heimbach II who was born in Germany. Peter fought in America’s War of Independence, and is buried at Grubb’s Church, in Chapman Township, Snyder County. Levi grew up in the area where he was born, and he was reared in the Lutheran, “Christ Church”, more commonly known as “Hassinger’s White Church”. Today this is located in Franklin Township, Snyder County.
On April 24, 1848 Levi married Harriet Moyer,
daughter of John Moyer and Susannah Hachenberg. Levi would later serve in the same Civil War regiment with
several of Harriet’s Hackenberg cousins.
Levi, deeply involved in raising a family, did not volunteer. He and Harriet had six children (Edward
Franklin, Susan, Alfred, Mary and Clinton) before he was drafted in November
1863. When Levi left home to “Help Save
the Union”, Harriet was approximately four months pregnant. Their seventh child, Levi Henry, would be
born in April 1864.
The 49th PVI regimental history indicates
that Levi arrived between Christmas and New Years in their winter camp at
Brandy Station, Virginia. For the remainder of the winter, Levi was integrated
into “the life of the soldier” in preparation for the large-scale operations,
which would unfold in the spring of 1864.
As the Union Army was preparing to close their winter quarters just east
of Culpeper, Virginia, Harriet had given birth to their fifth son (seventh
child). On April 17, 1864, Levi Henry
was born. Obviously, Levi Henry was
named by his mother to replace the name of her husband (Levi) who had been
taken from her and his grandfather (Henry Jr).
It is doubtful that Levi ever knew of his newest son’s birth.
Levi fought in two major battles – The Wilderness
battle from May 4 through May 8, 1864, and the battle of Spottsylvania Court
House, May 10, 1864 where he died just a few minutes after 6:00 PM, in a daring
and bloody attack on a Confederate breastworks. The attack, in which Levi died, was conceived by an imaginative
young officer, Colonel Emory Upton, former commander of the 121st
New York Volunteer Infantry, and Brigade Commander, 2nd Brigade, 1st
Division, 6th Corps. Since
the Rebels had beaten Grant’s forces to the strategic crossroads at
Spottsylvania Court House, Virginia, they had a chance to “dig in” before Grant
began the attack. Colonel Upton reconnoitered the extensive entrenchments, and
recommended a massing of forces at a weak point where the Rebel defenses made a
right angled turn. The idea was to
overwhelm the defensive force at a single point where the defenders could be
caught in an enfilade (cross-fire).
Upton recommended using 12 handpicked regiments to penetrate the enemy
defenses. This attack was to be
reinforced by forces under General Mott’s command, once the penetration of the
enemy line was secured. General Grant
personally approved Upton’s bold and somewhat brash idea, and promised him a
promotion to Brigadier General if he carried it off. Upton personally selected the 12 battle-tested regiments, which
had fought together before and which had earlier demonstrated a fighting
spirit. Levi’s regiment was one of the
selected units. See below for the
disposition of these 12 regiments.
Upton’s concept was simple. He had in excess of 5000
men to attack a presumed a weak point.
He massed his forces in four ranks of three regiments each. The exact disposition of the regiments
varies in some of the accounts, however the disposition described here is taken
from Colonel Upton’s personal report of the action. No commands were given in getting into position. The muskets of the men in the first line
were loaded and capped; those of the others were loaded but not capped;
bayonets were fixed. The 121st
New York and the 96th Pennsylvania were instructed, as soon as the
works were carried, to turn to the left and charge the battery. The 5th Maine was to charge front
to right and open an enfilading fire to the right upon the enemy. The second line was to halt at the works,
and open fire to the front if necessary.
The third line was to lie down behind the second and await orders. The fourth line was to advance to the edge
of the woods, lie down, and await the issue of the charge. When the Confederate line was breached.
General Gershom Mott’s Division, temporarily assigned to the 6th
Corps from the 2nd Corps, was to provide reinforcements to Upton’s
men.
Upon completion of pre-attack shelling by Union
Artillery at approximately 6:00 PM, Upton’s forces charged across the 150 yards
of open terrain through the outer perimeter of abatis and up to the
entrenchments. The attack caught the
Confederates by surprise, and although they at first refused to yield from the
entrenchments, within a few minutes Upton’s men had carried the breastworks and
moved on to the 2nd and 3rd battle lines of
entrenchments. Within 30 minutes of
fierce fighting, over 1000 men and 10 field pieces were captured. However, Confederate Field Artillery pinned
down General Mott’s troops to the north of the point of attack, so the
reinforcements never arrived.
Desperate to repel the invaders, the Confederates
focused all their forces within the “Mule Shoe” in a counterattack. By dusk they succeeded in driving the
invaders back outside the entrenchments, and although the rebel prisoners were
taken to the Union rear, the field pieces were abandoned to their original
owners. As the original lines of
engagement were re-established, the colors of the 49th PVI were the
last to leave the rebel lines.
Though on the surface, it appears as though this was
a poor choice for a defensive line, the Confederates entrenched along these
lines since it was on the edge of high ground.
The concept was that by placing lots of field artillery within the “Mule
Shoe,” it would be readily defensible.
Ultimately, this proved to be wrong, but the defenses in the “Mule Shoe”
were only overwhelmed at exceedingly great cost in dead and wounded Federal
troops.
The toll of dead and wounded for “Upton’s Charge”
was high, however the new tactic, of columnar assault, was seen as being proven
in battle. The only factor to prevent
it from a complete success was the failure of General Mott to provide his
reinforcement troops to sustain and widen the attack, once the penetration had
been successfully made. Upton’s
contribution was regarded most favorably by the entire leadership structure of
the Army of the Potomac, including: Major General Horatio Wright, 6th
Corps Commander, Major General Meade, Commander of the Army of the Potomac and
Lieutenant General U.S. Grant, Commander in Chief. Grant was so impressed that he promoted Upton immediately;
exercising his authority that President Lincoln had given him for exceptional
battlefield performance. Further, Grant
decided to employ the same tactic two days later using several corps rather
than regiments. Specifically, on May
12, 1864 the Federals totally smashed the Confederate “Mule Shoe” defenses in
the battle that would be forever known as “The Bloody Angle.” This is the attack in which Levi’s brother,
George Henry, would be wounded and later would die from complications from his
leg wound.
Whereas Colonel Emory Upton and the other survivors
received the cheers and adulation of their comrades, Levi Heimbach was among a
large number who had paid the highest price one can pay for serving his country
– he had given his life. Robert S.
Westbrook, Sergeant of Company B and author of the History of the 49th
Pennsylvania Volunteers, lists the battle casualties of Upton’s Charge on pages
193-196. Under the heading “Company E,
Killed” is the entry: “Corporal Levi
Heimback.” Apparently, Levi had been
promoted on the battlefield during the battle of the Wilderness. This fact never caught up with him to be
reflected in his records. This is
likely because the records were only updated with new entries on the Muster
Cards every two months.
Levi’s body was never recovered, nor were the bodies
of many of the officers who were killed in Upton’s Charge. Colonel Thomas Hulings (Commander of the 49th
PVI Regiment) and Lieutenant Colonel John Miles (Deputy Regimental Commander)
were both killed and neither body was recovered. The Confederates controlled
access to the battle site for days and would not allow the Federals to retrieve
bodies or help the wounded. Many men
agonized in the rain until they died for lack of assistance. It is assumed that Levi was subsequently
buried on the battlefield as an unknown, after the armies moved to the
southeast in their colossal dance to the next titanic struggle at Petersburg.
During the 125th anniversary celebration
of the battle of Spottsylvania, Paul Heimbach was struck by the fact that
historians and those commemorating valued moments of the Civil War had largely
overlooked “Upton’s Charge”. It was at
that time that he first broached the idea of a “Monument to Upton’s Charge” to
Mr. Robert Krick, Chief Historian of the Fredericksburg/Spottsylvania
Battlefield. With Mr. Krick’s guidance
and assistance, in 1992 Paul Heimbach formally submitted an application to erect
a monument to “Upton’s Charge.” That
application was approved and the monument was erected in the spring of
1994. The monument was dedicated at a
formal ceremony on May 7, 1994, 130 years after Levi and his fellow soldiers
sacrificed so greatly in “Upton’s Charge,” the fiercely fought battle at
Spottsylvania Court House, Virginia.
This monument now formally recognizes Upton’s Charge and honors Levi’s
everlasting contribution to our country’s heritage.
The previous article is excerpted from the Heimbach Herald Vol. IV Summer 1993 NR 1 ISSN: 1049-3034.
Contact heimbacp@erols.com for any questions. Back to top.
Last updated 1/28/2001