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Josiah Holcomb Kellogg (October 1, 1836 – June 19, 1919) was an American soldier who served as the Colonel of the Union 17th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry during the American Civil War. He served from September 1862 until his retirement from active duty in January 1865, due to injuries incurred in the line of duty. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, his military career with the Army of the Potomac includes the defense of Washington, D.C., at the start of the war, and as commander of the 17th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry during the Peninsula Campaign, the Rappahannock Campaign, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Second Battle of Winchester. After the war Kellogg continued his military career on General Philip Sheridan’s staff and as an instructor of military science and tactics at several colleges and universities. He served in Chicago in 1871 during the period of martial law declared by the mayor following the Great Chicago Fire, and remained in Chicago during the reconstruction of the city, serving as the assistant City Engineer.

Early life and education

Kellogg was the son of Josiah Holcomb Kellogg (1792-1884) and Catherine Ramsey (1805-1875). Kellogg’s father was a coal and shipping merchant based in Erie, Pennsylvania, and was possibly involved in the Underground Railroad, helping slaves make their way to Canada. Kellogg’s early education was in public schools, including the Erie Academy. From 1853 to 1855 he attended Hobart College in Geneva, New York. On July 1, 1855 he entered the US Military Academy at West Point. On July 1, 1860, Kellogg graduated 13th in a class of 41 cadets, with the rank of brevet second lieutenant of the First US Dragoons.

Early career

After graduating from West Point, Kellogg was assigned as a brevet second lieutenant to the Cavalry School for Practice at the Carlisle Barracks at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. On November 2, 1860, he was reassigned to Walla Walla, in the Washington Territory. Soon after his arrival he was assigned to take command of Fort Crook, near Mount Shasta in California, but only served a short time before he was recalled to duty in the east in preparation for the start of the American Civil War.

American Civil War

On January 8, 1861 Kellogg was promoted to second lieutenant, and on May 13, 1861 he was promoted to first lieutenant. He was assigned to the First US Cavalry Regiment on August 3, 1861. On January 13, 1862, Kellogg was appointed regimental adjutant of the First Dragoons, during the initial defense of Washington, D.C. From March to August 1862, while serving in the Peninsula Campaign in Virginia with the Army of the Potomac, Kellogg fought at the Siege of Yorktown, the Battle of Williamsburg, the Battle of Gaines’s Mill, the Battle of Glendale, and the Battle of Malvern Hill. On May 20, 1862 he was promoted to captain, and in September and October 1862, he served in the Maryland Campaign.

Commander, 17th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry

On October 18, 1862 the United States Department of War assigned Kellogg to command of the 17th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry in the Second Brigade, First Cavalry Division, organized at Fort Simmons, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Kellogg’s regiment served under Brigadier General John Buford, Major General Alfred Pleasonton, and Major General Philip Sheridan. In November 1862 the regiment made its first march together from Fort Simmons north to Camp McClellan, where Kellogg was formally commissioned by Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Gregg Curtain as a colonel of US Volunteers. The regiment then decamped for Washington, D.C. via Baltimore, Maryland by rail, to a camp at East Capitol Hill, and was attached to the Eleventh Corps. From December 1862 to June 1863, he commanded the regiment as part of the Union Army during the Rappahannock Campaign, including at the Battles of the Frying Pan, Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, and Beverly Ford.

Battle of Gettysburg

When the Union army moved north into Pennsylvania in June 1863, the 448 men of the 17th PA were still attached to the Second Brigade of the First Division, commanded by Brigadier General John Buford. The First Division arrived in Gettysburg on June 30th on a reconnaissance mission to determine the location of the advancing Confederate Army. That afternoon they spotted Confederate forces on the Chambersburg Pike (Cashtown Road) west of Gettysburg, but neither side engaged, and the Confederates retired west, down the Chambersburg Pike. Buford deployed his forces on each side of the Chambersburg Pike, with the main line on McPherson’s Ridge and Oak Ridge, west of Gettysburg. The 17th PA deployed on the right of Buford’s line in the vicinity of the Mummasburg Road.

On morning of July 1st, the first day of the battle, one of Confederate General A.P. Hill’s divisions, commanded by Major General Henry Heth, made a reconnaissance in force, from west to east along the Chambersburg Pike. Buford’s cavalry pickets and vedettes delayed the advance using harassing fire; troopers positioned themselves at intervals behind post and rail fences, and fired on the Confederate skirmishers and columns. When pressed, the troopers would move on horseback to a position just ahead of the column, dismount again, and fire from another angle. These tactics bought the Union army time to firm up its lines but the troopers were hard pressed until units of the First Army Corps, under Major General John F. Reynolds, arrived and relieved them. The Second Brigade, under Colonel Thomas Devin, including Kellogg’s 17th PA, moved to protect the right flank.

Devin’s brigade sent reconnaissance units north to the Carlisle Road, northeast to the Harrisburg Road, and east to the York Pike, and detected Ewell’s Corps approaching Gettysburg. By the afternoon of July 1st, Devin’s brigade was concentrated along the York Pike in the vicinity of Rock Creek northeast of Gettysburg, protecting the right flank of Howard’s Eleventh Army Corps as it fought Early’s division. During the Union army’s general retreat to Cemetery Hill on the late afternoon of July 1st, Devin’s brigade fell back and linked up with Gamble’s Brigade on the left flank, in the vicinity of the Emmitsburg Road and the Peach Orchard. The 17th PA was ordered down Emmitsburg Road to the Peach Orchard, to cover the center as the Third Corps of Infantry moved into position. The 17th PA helped hold the enemy in check until relieved by troops of the Eleventh Corps of Infantry, and then helped cover its retreat to Cemetery Hill. After repulsing several confederate infantry charges and being relieved by the Third Corps, the 17th PA moved down through the Wheatfield to a position at Little Round Top, protecting the Union left flank, and then onto Taneytown Road to protect the supply train. Overnight, Buford sent out cavalry pickets for miles to detect Confederate forces coming from the west. That night the entire First Division bivouacked at Taneytown, Maryland.

On the morning of July 2nd, Pleasonton relieved Buford, and the First Division of their duties, and sent them to Westminster, Maryland to protect the Union army’s supply depot, ending their involvement at Gettysburg. The 17th PA fought superbly under Kellogg with only 4 of the 448 men in the regiment being wounded. On July 3rd, Kellogg was promoted to brevet major of the Regular Army for gallant and meritorious service. Today, Kellogg is recognized by name on two memorials at the Gettysburg National Military Park, the Pennsylvania Monument and the 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry Monument.

Resignation of commission

The regiment marched with the Army of the Potomac back into Virginia on the heels of the retreating Army of Northern Virginia. When the regiment reached Brandy Station, Virginia, Kellogg was granted a 7 week leave of absence from duty due to injuries incurred in the line of duty, and reassigned to the Draft Depot at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The regiment continued with the Brigade to Leesburg, Virginia. On November 1, 1863 Kellogg rejoined his regiment during the advance toward Richmond, Virginia but at the end of April 1864 he had to take another sick leave of absence. He once again rejoined his regiment at Winchester, Virginia on November 10, 1864, and commanded a provisional brigade on a raid at Gordonsville, Virginia. On December 17, 1864 Kellogg was honorably mustered out of active duty due to aggravation of his injuries, and on December 27 resigned his volunteer commission as commander of the 17th Regiment. He was then detailed to the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts, where he served on the Board of Commissioners tasked to remodel the Springfield musket to a breechloader.

Post-Civil War-US Military Academy and Rutgers

On February 6, 1865 Kellogg was officially retired from active duty by the Army Retiring Board, in Wilmington, Delaware, but he continued as a member of General Philip Sheridan’s staff. From February 22, 1865 to August 23, 1866 he served as the Assistant Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy at the US Military Academy. From August 30, 1866 until 1871 he served as the first professor of civil engineering at the Rutgers University Institution of Civil Engineering and Military Tactics in New Jersey.

Chicago

In 1870 or 1871 Kellogg moved to Chicago, Illinois and took a position as insurance actuary, first with the Illinois Insurance Department, and later with the Standard Life and Accident Insurance Company of Detroit. Around this same time he was the editor of the Chicago “Argus” newspaper. From October 8-10, 1871 fire devastated Chicago. General Sheridan declared martial law in anticipation of rioting and unrest that never eventuated. Kellogg served with Sheridan during the period of martial law. He continued serving as the assistant City Engineer during the reconstruction until 1873.

Publisher and educator

Between 1888 and 1898 Kellogg published an insurance “organ” (magazine) titled Black & White, first under the name of Kellogg & Collings, and then Kellogg & Company. From May 1, 1900 until January 3, 1902 he was stationed at Wentworth Military Academy near Lexington, Missouri as the professor of Military Science and Tactics. From January 3, 1902 until September 30, 1905 he taught at Ouachita College, in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. On October 1, 1904, his 68th birthday, Kellogg was retired as a Major of the regular army by an Act of Congress.

Retirement and death

Kellogg lived with his son Norman in Chicago from 1909. He was a member of the Chicago Press Club and the Union League Club. In 1914 Kellogg became partially blind and in 1917 completely lost his eyesight. Josiah Holcomb Kellogg died at home at 82 years of age on June 19, 1919 from complications from a fall. He is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.

References

•	Coddington, Edwin B. (1968). The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command. Dayton, OH: Morningside Bookshop.

•	Cullum, George W. (1910), Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, Since Its Establishment in 1802 (Volume 5). Saginaw, MI: Seeman & Peters.

•	Detweiler, M. David, and David Reisch, ed. (2013). Gettysburg: The Story of the Battle with Maps. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.

•	Hayden, H. R. (1899), Cyclopedia of Insurance in the United States 1898-9. Hartford, CT.

•	Moyer, H.P. (1911), History of the Seventeenth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry or One Hundred and Sixy-Second in the Line of Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiments, War to Suppress the Rebellion, 1861-1865. Lebanon, PA: Sowers Printing Company.