The Regiment’s Commanders

Joseph F. Knipe

Joseph Farmer Knipe was born the son of a blacksmith in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania on March 30, 1823. Too small to follow his father’s profession, (as an adult, he stood only 5’ 1”), he was apprenticed to a Philadelphia shoemaker, where he stayed until age 19.

In 1842, he enlisted in the United States Army, and during his five-year tour rose to the rank of sergeant in the 2nd Artillery. He was discharged in 1847 at Veracruz.

He returned to Pennsylvania and established himself as a shoemaker in Harrisburg. He supplemented his cash flow working for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and expanded his shop to include other mercantile goods.

He also became active in the state militia. With his army experience and enthusiasm, he rose to the rank of major, and was appointed an aide-de-camp to the militia’s brigadier general, Edward Williams, who would become colonel of the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry. When Fort Sumter was fired upon, Williams and Knipe chose the local fairgrounds as the rendezvous point for the thousands of volunteers stepping forward. Flag in hand, Knipe climbed onto the roof of one of the main buildings, and called to the crowd to christen the grounds “Camp Curtin” in honor of the governor.

When the second call for troops was made in late July 1861, Knipe was authorized to raise a regiment, and that unit became the 46th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, which left Harrisburg under Knipe’s command on September 16, 1861. He led it at the First Battle of Winchester, and at the Battle of Cedar Mountain, and was wounded at both. He was at the head of regiment at the start of the Battle of Antietam, but was called upon to take command of its brigade. He organized a defensive line that stood up to and defeated the last rebel attack on the Union right.

With this record, in November 1862 Knipe received his promotion to brigadier general, and led the same brigade (First Brigade, First Division, Twelfth Corps) at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Exhausted by that experience, he returned to Harrisburg on leave, only to be called upon to organize the city’s defenses during Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania and the Gettysburg Campaign.

He went west with the corps in the fall of 1863, and led his brigade at all the battles fought to the fall of Atlanta in September 1864. When Sherman settled on his plan to march to the sea, he was required to leave enough men to defend Tennessee. Sherman chose Knipe to command a division of cavalry as part of this force, and while the 46th and the brigade marched through Georgia, Knipe left for Tennessee to serve under George Thomas, where his division captured over 6,000 rebels after the Battle of Nashville in November 1864.

James L. Selfridge

James Levan Selfridge was born on September 22, 1824 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, the son of a successful merchant and miller. Selfridge enrolled at Lafayette College at the age of 16, but left before graduating due to the death of his father. After reading law for a year, he came to Philadelphia as an agent of the Lehigh Valley Transportation Company. In 1850, he was living with his older brother, William, and worked for him as a commission merchant.

Prior to the outbreak of the war, he established himself in the Bethlehem area. There, in April 1861, he quickly raised a militia company that became Company A of the 1st Pennsylvania Infantry (militia). Still enthused about carrying on the fight after the militia enlistment expired, he joined with Colonel Knipe in raising and organizing the 46th, and became its lieutenant colonel. In 1862, when Knipe rose to brigadier, Selfridge stepped up to colonel of the regiment.

As such, he led the regiment from the early months of 1863 through the fall of Atlanta, missing only the Battle of Chancellorsville due to illness. In early 1862, he earned the nickname “Old Ironclad” for his good fortune in have so many bullets pass close or seemingly bounce off. Although always at the front, unlike Knipe who was wounded five times during the war, Selfridge was never hit.

When Knipe left for Tennessee, Selfrige stepped up to command the brigade, now the First Brigade, First Division, Twentieth Corps. He led it from Atlanta to Savannah, and through the Carolinas, including at the battles of Montieth Swamp, Averasboro, and Bentonville. For his devoted service, he was given the honorary rank of brevet brigadier general on March 16, 1865, and was discharged along with the 46th on July 16, 1865.

Patrick Griffith

Patrick Griffith was born in Ireland in 1837, and came with his family to New Brunswick, Canada sometime before 1842. In 1850, he was living with his mother, Mary, and three brothers, Robert 14, Nicholas 11, and Alexander 8, in the west ward of Norristown, where he and his brother Robert were supporting the family working in a cotton textile mill. He declared his intention to become a US citizen in 1852, and became one in September 1856.

On April 22, 1861, Griffith joined Company D of the 8th Pennsylvania Infantry (militia), and was mustered out on July 29. On August 23, he joined a new company of mostly Irish recruits from the Scranton area, which became Company I of the 46th. Mustered in as a sergeant, just a few days later he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. In February 1862, both the captain and 1st lieutenant were dismissed from the service for incompetence, and Griffith was promoted to captain. He led the company at the battles of Winchester and Cedar Mountain, where he was captured on August 9, 1862, thus missing the Battle of Antietam. He was again in charge at Chancellorsville, and was again taken prisoner, but returned in time for the Battle of Gettysburg.

On August 1, 1863, being the senior captain in the regiment, he was promoted to major. After Lt. Col. William Foulk left the regiment on detached service, Griffith was second in command, and was present with the regiment during all of the battles of the Atlanta Campaign.

When, after the fall of Atlanta, Col. Selfridge took command of the brigade, Griffith took over the 46th Pennsylvania, and had charge of it during the rest of the war: the March to the Sea and the Campaign in the Carolinas. He mustered out with the regiment in Alexandria on July 16, 1865.