 the troops of Confederate General Richard Taylor (a plantation owner who was the son of Zachary Taylor, former President of the United States), the brutal fighting still showed no signs of ending. Suddenly, just as the 47th was shifting to the left side of the massed Union forces, the men of the 47th Pennsylvania were forced to bolster the 165th New York’s buckling lines by blocking another Confederate assault.
Casualties were severe. The regiment’s second in command, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander, was nearly killed, and the regiment’s two color-bearers, both from Company C, were also seriously wounded while preventing the American flag from falling into enemy hands. F Company lost men as well. Some were wounded or killed in action; still others were captured and marched off as prisoners of war (POWs) to Camp Ford, a Confederate prison camp in Tyler, Texas.
Following what some historians have called a drubbing by the Confederate Army and others have called a technical Union victory (or at least a draw), the 47th Pennsylvania fell back to Grand Ecore, where the men resupplied and regrouped until 22 April. Retreating further to Alexandria, they then scored another victory against the Confederates, this time in the Battle of Cane River near Monett’s Ferry on 23 April.
Placed under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey from April 30 through May 10, the 47th Pennsylvanians then helped to build a timber dam across the Red River near Alexandria, which enabled federal gunboats to more easily traverse the river’s fluctuating water levels. Beginning 16 May, Captain Henry S. Harte and F Company moved with most of the 47th from Simmsport across the Atchafalaya to Morganza, and then to New Orleans on 20 June.
On 22 June 1864, Lieutenant George W. Fuller was discharged on a Surgeon’s Certificate while his brother, Private Orlando Fuller, continued to fight on with the 47th Pennsylvania, which had been ordered to return to the East Coast for further duty.
Steaming for the Washington, D.C. area aboard the McClellan beginning 7 July 1864, Private Orlando Fuller and his fellow 47th Pennsylvanians from Companies A, C, D, E, F, H, and I had a memorable encounter with President Abraham Lincoln before joining with Major-General David Hunter’s forces at Snicker’s Gap, Virginia, where they fought in the Battle of Cool Spring and also assisted in defending Washington, D.C. while helping to drive Confederate troops from Maryland.
Attached to the Middle Military Division, Army of the Shenandoah beginning in August, September saw the departure of several 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers who had served honorably, including the captains of Companies D, E and F and Private Orlando Fuller, the older brother of 1st Lieutenant George W. Fuller. All four mustered out at Berryville, Virginia on 18 September 1864 upon expiration of their respective three-year terms of service.
Less than two weeks later, 1st Lieutenant George W. Fuller was dead. Although he had been discharged on a Surgeon’s Certificate in June, he had been too ill to travel and had been left behind to convalesce. On 29 September 1864, he passed away at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas, Florida. His remains were prepared for transport home to the Lehigh Valley, likely by Paul Balliet.
* Note: The first undertaker to serve the residents of Allentown and later superintendent of the Fairview Cemetery from 1871-1879, Paul Balliet became famous for retrieving and returning home to the Lehigh Valley the bodies of numerous soldiers who had been killed far from their native Pennsylvania soil, including soldiers who died during the Battle of Antietam and members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers. (Historian Lewis Schmidt confirmed that Balliet readied for travel the remains of several who had served with the 47th Pennsylvania in 1862 and 1864, as well as a child of the regiment’s chaplain, William Rodrock.)
1st Lieutenant George W. Fuller was laid to rest at the Fairview Cemetery.
In recognition of his service to the nation, the Grand Army of the Republic chapter in Catasauqua was named the