James Gwyn (November 24, 1828 – July 17, 1906) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He immigrated at a young age from Ireland in 1846, initially working as a storekeeper in Philadelphia and later as a clerk in New York City. At the onset of the war, in 1861, he enlisted and was commissioned as a captain with the 23rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He assumed command of the 118th Pennsylvania Regiment in the course of the war. Gwyn led that regiment through many of its 39 recorded battles, including engagements at Seven Pines, Fredericksburg, Shepherdstown, Five Forks, Gettysburg, and Appomattox Court House.
Gwyn was wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864, but returned to service after recuperating to take command of the Third, and eventually the First and Second Brigades of the First Division of the Union Army's V Corps. Gwyn was brevetted as a brigadier general by President Abraham Lincoln and then as a major general by President Andrew Johnson for his service. His men described him as "a handsome and accomplished officer, and a bold and aggressive leader". After the war, Gwyn returned to Philadelphia, although later moving to New York, and resumed his business dealings. He died on July 17, 1906, and was honored with a military funeral and buried in Woodlands Cemetery, Philadelphia.
Early life
Gwyn was born in Derry, Ireland on November 24, 1828. He was one of ten children raised in the Protestant household of Alexander Gwyn and Catherine Garvin. His brother, Hugh Garvin Gwyn, would later serve in the Confederate States Army as a major with the 23rd Tennessee Infantry Regiment, as well as an adjutant to General John Hunt Morgan.
He lived in the rural Irish city until he enrolled in Foyle College. Like many Irish in the 1840s, Gwyn left Ireland for the United States during the Great Famine. He boarded the John R. Skiddy, a packet ship from Liverpool, bound for New York City. On November 4, 1846, Gwyn arrived in America via the Port of New York, 22 days before his 18th birthday, although his immigration papers list him as 20.
Upon arriving in the United States, Gwyn and many other Derry immigrants made their way to Philadelphia as was noted by an Emigration Officer Edward Smith at Derry that, "Nevertheless, the money that recent arrivals in America remitted for the passage of others was central to the whole link between Derry and Philadelphia".
On August 30, 1850, Gwyn took up residence in the North Mulberry Ward where he owned a house. He married Pennsylvania native Margaretta E. Young in February. Although he worked as a clerk throughout the 1850s, he later formed a dried goods business with George H. Stewart, called "Gwyn & Stewart Dry Goods".
Gwyn purchased a plot in the Woodlands Cemetery on October 12, 1853. Records show that on April 28, 1857 'James Gwyn & Lady' from Philadelphia visited the Imperial Hotel Belfast until at least July 2. Gwyn's wife gave birth to his first child, Elizabeth Gailey Gwyn, on December 7, 1858, and their second daughter, Matilda Geddes, on January 2, 1861.
Military service
Enlistment with the 23rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry
Gwyn enlisted in Company G of the 23rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry on April 21, 1861, one week after the American Civil War began. He served in that company without interruption until July 31, 1861, when he transferred to Company F. He resumed duty with the new company on August 2, 1861. Gwyn served with the 23rd Volunteers for over one year; in that time, he took part in the Battle of Seven Pines, where, on May 31, 1862, Gwyn led the 23rd in aiding other Union companies in collecting escaped fugitives. Gwyn resigned from the 23rd Volunteers on July 22, 1862, where he accepted a promotion to lieutenant colonel in a new regiment.
Lieutenant colonel, 118th Pennsylvania Infantry
Gywn joined the 118th Pennsylvania Infantry, on July 25, 1862. The 118th, which was commissioned by the United States Department of War for three years of service, gathered recruits from the Philadelphia area during August 15 to 30,1862. Gwyn was officially mustered into service on August 16, 1862. During this time, the 118th became known as the "Corn Regiment", because the funds for raising the regiment were furnished by the Corn Exchange Association of Philadelphia. Having gathered 1,296 volunteers during the two-week period, the "Corn Regiment" left for Washington, D.C., to be assigned a position in the Union Army on September 1, 1862. The regiment was embedded with the First Brigade, First Division, Fifth Army Corps under the regiment command of Colonel Charles Prevost, and brigade commander Colonel James Barnes.