admin 176th Regiment
Pennsylvania Volunteers
Seven companies of this regiment were from Lehigh county, and the remaining three from Monroe. They rendezvoused at Philadelphia, during the month of November, where a regimental organization was effected, with the following field officers:
- Ambrose A. Lechler, Colonel
- George Pilkington, Lieutenant Colonel
- William Schoonover, Major.
Colonel Lechler had served as Quartermaster of the Fourth Pennsylvania Reserve, and during the Seven Days’ Battle of the Peninsula, as ordnance officer to the Second Reserve Brigade. Soon after its organization, the regiment was sent to Suffolk, Virginia, where, for a month, it was subjected to careful instruction and discipline.
Through the recommendation of Colonel Foster, in command of a provisional brigade, to which the One Hundred and Seventy-sixth had been assigned, this regiment was selected to accompany General Foster in his expedition for the reinforcement of the army operating upon the defenses of Charleston. Proceeding to Newbern, North Carolina, it was incorporated with Foster’s forces, and on the 27th of January set sail, arriving at Hilton Head on the 5th of February. While in the department of the south, the regiment was not engaged in any hostile operations, but was principally employed in fatigue duty upon the fortifications, and in provost duty.
Soon after the expiration of its term of service, it returned north, and was sent to Harrisburg, where, on the 17th and 18th of August, it was mustered out of service.