The Gallant Seventy-Eighth - A Review
By
James Wudarczyk - 2005

The Gallant Seventy-Eighth: Colonel William Sirwell and the Pennsylvania Seventy-Eighth Volunteer Infantry, Stones River to Pickett’s Mill, by Ron Gancas, Pittsburgh: Mark V Enterprises, 1994. (Second edition 1997).

The residents of Allegheny County are extremely fortunate to have Ron Gancas as Assistant Director of Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland. This memorial is one of the most unique in the nation, originally having been dedicated to the memory of Union veterans. Gancas brings to the job a high degree of professionalism, as well as an obvious love of history.

Gancas made valuable contributions to the body of literature that deals with Western Pennsylvania’s role in the Civil War. He is the author or co-author of several books, and has taken center stage as one of the area’s most important historians.

The Gallant Seventy-Eighth illustrates Ron Gancas’ dedication to the subject. What is most impressive about this 400-page publication is that the author includes 198 pages of text, 16 pages of footnotes, an index of 38 pages, and a regimental roster that spans approximately 158 pages. To coordinate such a massive amount of material into a book is not an easy task, yet Gancas astonishes his readers by converting this mountain of facts into a history that reads like a novel.

What we know about a dynamic individual like Colonel William Sirwell would be totally lost if not for the heroic efforts of Ron Gancas, who did an exceptional job of resurrecting this minor player in the Civil War and elevating him to the status that Sirwell deserves. According to Gancas, Sirwell was born at the Allegheny Arsenal in 1820 and spent the first several years of his life there, where his father, Richard Sirwell, was a private engaged in the repair of firearms. Writing of Richard Sirwell, Gancas notes that he was a native of Warwick England, who came to the Pittsburgh area with his wife, Elizabeth, in the early 1820’s. He enlisted in the United States Army for a term that ran from June 1821 to June 1827 at the Allegheny Arsenal, where he served as an “artificer” or one responsible for the delicate work of repairing firearms.

William apparently followed in his father’s trade of working with delicate mechanical parts since he became a watchmaker, and eventually settled in Kittanning. Although a jeweler by trade, William Sirwell spent most of his life in the military. He joined a state militia in 1839 and at one point commanded the City Blues of Pittsburgh. William Sirwell was also responsible in 1855 for organizing a company of blacks into the Hannibal Guards. It should be noted that since blacks were prohibited from enlisting in the Union Army in Pittsburgh in the early part of the Civil War, many of the Hannibal Guards left Pittsburgh to join the Massachusetts Fifty-fourth Colored Regiment, who were recently remembered with the release of the movie “Glory.” To his credit, Sirwell was one man who doubted the common notion that the Civil War would be over in less than three months.

Gancas has a unique way of painting pictures with words, and one shares the awe of country boys arriving in Pittsburgh. He notes that in 1861 Pittsburgh and its twin city of Allegheny had a combined population of 78,000, while the entire population of Allegheny County was only 178,000. “Steamboats plying their trade on the nation’s rivers lined the shores of the Monongahela and Allegheny River banks. Black smoke and soot poured from their stacks as they waited to transfer their cargo. The streets were filled with wagons, buggies, and people going about their business. Hotels and restaurants, filled with soldiers and businessmen, fed and housed hundreds in rooms overflowing with cigar smoke and noise. Even Mrs. Black’s house of ill repute on Third Street was doing a booming business.”

Gancas also manages to uncover a tremendous amount of trivia. He points out that between May and June of 1861, the 9th Regiment, which included the 78th, was sent to Delaware to keep bands of Confederate sympathizers from drifting south. In addition, he addresses the problem that faced General James Scott Negley of filling military positions with political appointees, who felt they could further their own careers if they enlisted in the service. According to the author, the Pittsburgh newspapers also criticized the appointment of Father Richard Christy, a Roman Catholic priest, as chaplain of a unit comprised mostly of Protestants.

Gancas proves to be diligent in his pursuit of the tactics and campaigns, as well as the sufferings of the men, not only from battle injuries but also from measles, fever and lice. He also investigates the inaccuracies of newspapers of the period. One publication reported that Rosecrans and 30,000 officers and men surrendered at Stones River.

This unit saw action in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. As the Confederates retreated, they often poisoned available water supplies with dead animals.

Sirwell, like many other Union officers, faced the problem of discipline among the troops. For example, at Camp Nevin, Kentucky, “There having been a great deal of stealing done last night and the blame attached to this regiment, notice is given that the captains of companies are held responsible for payment. There has been a bill of six dollars and fifty cents ($6.50) already settled by the Colonel of this regiment.”

Gambling was generally punishable by digging stumps, while other crimes were punished by having one’s hair shaved from one side of the head and being paraded in front of the regiment.

Life for the common soldier was difficult. Hard crackers became known as “Mrs. Lincoln’s pies” and sutlers sold beer for as much as 25 cents a pint.

Ron Gancas also delves into the character of Major General William Starke Rosecrans, whom the men knew as “Old Rosey” because of his habit of chatting with the enlisted men.

This volume will prove to be a valuable addition to anyone’s Civil War book collection.

For cost of the book contact Mark V Enterprise, 240 Falls Village Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15239. 724-327-7587.